Chapter 841: This World is Your Realm

Chapter 841: This World Is Your Domain

Yue Hongling’s actions seemed to refute what Han Wubing had said earlier—he believed that since she cultivated the Sword Emperor’s legacy, facing the real Sword Emperor would bring great trouble, much like Yu Xu confronting the Dao Ancestor. So he said, now that the Sword Emperor has appeared, shouldn’t you be a little wary of your own state?

Yue Hongling proved through her actions that when the Sword Emperor appeared, she not only felt no wariness about her state but instead resolutely challenged him.

Facing difficulties head-on, charging forward without hesitation—this is the bone of the sword.

Han Wubing admired it; he himself was such a person.

The Sword Emperor, of course, was as well.

“I have no interest in breaking the Four Symbols Formation… naturally, I choose the second option. If you lose, I take the White Tiger.” He responded very naturally, as if it were a matter of course.

San Niang and the others looked quite strange. Just because two options were given didn’t mean he had to accept them. Who had the right to make him choose? He could have refused… they never expected he would actually agree!

The embodiment of the sword path from the third generation of the ancient demon gods, dueling a young woman in her twenties! She hadn’t eaten as much rice as he had used swords.

How twisted were these swordsmen’s minds…

This time, the frenzied White Tiger didn’t even need them to control it. Han Wubing took the initiative to subdue the tiger and drag it aside. In front of Han Wubing, the frenzied White Tiger was quite docile, obedient as a cat.

The others dispersed around, subtly forming a formation to guard against unforeseen events. Yue Hongling stood quietly in the center, still holding the sword upside down with one hand clasped over the other: “Senior, please.”

The Sword Emperor looked her over with great interest and asked another question: “With such a sword bone… in this world, purely in terms of the sword path, are you the most outstanding?”

Yue Hongling glanced at Han Wubing. Having never dueled him, especially after he merged with the White Tiger, she couldn’t judge. She could only say: “If we set aside the White Tiger, then yes.”

The Sword Emperor asked with curiosity: “Have you fought them all? So certain?”

Yue Hongling said: “In this world, pure swordsmen are common in the martial world, but at the Imperial Realm level, they are few and far between. Most combine multiple methods. For example, my husband’s overall strength may surpass mine, but his sword is just one of his means. Wan Zhuang, Chi Chi, and Mo are all the same. Purely in terms of the sword path, I can’t think of anyone worth mentioning.”

The Sword Emperor was somewhat startled this time: “Husband? A true swordsman only takes the sword as a spouse.”

Yue Hongling smiled slightly: “The sword path is vast, not just one road. Senior, you are also attached to appearances.”

“Well said.” The Sword Emperor also smiled: “Make your move. Let me see how the sword path of someone with a husband fares.”

“Forgive my impertinence.” Yue Hongling’s expression was calm. The upside-down sword hilt suddenly turned upright, and she pointed an ordinary-looking sword at the Sword Emperor’s chest.

A ceremonial move, “Greeting the Guest with a Pine”… She didn’t know if such a dueling etiquette existed in ancient times, but it made the Sword Emperor want to laugh. He flipped his sword and steadily pressed down on Yue Hongling’s strike.

Sure enough, his power was suppressed to the early second level of the Imperial Realm, exactly matching Yue Hongling’s current state. Yet Yue Hongling’s sword was still easily deflected—a matter of force application and the angle and position of the clash, the most basic of basics, like a sparring session among beginners in a sect.

If there was any difference, it was the speed. An ordinary swordsman probably wouldn’t even see the movements.

While deflecting her sword, the Sword Emperor’s blade slid along hers, aiming straight for her fingers.

Yue Hongling twisted her wrist, tilting the sword tip upward to point at his wrist.

Their steps crossed simultaneously, and the next moment, a rapid “ding ding ding ding” like pearls falling on a jade plate rang out. The ceremonial opening had instantly turned into a dazzling, swift exchange. Every strike targeted vital points, each attack and defense concealed hundreds or thousands of follow-up variations, yet they parried each other flawlessly, as if in a practice drill.

It seemed like the process of a common swordsman advancing from basics to higher levels.

But every onlooker was an expert, with sharp eyes. They knew that within these basic attacks and defenses lay the most essential understanding of the sword path—simplicity refined to its core. A slight lack of comprehension, and one could have died several times over in this round of exchange.

Both sides seemed to be using this method to test each other. The Sword Emperor was examining the girl’s understanding of the sword, while Yue Hongling used the Sword Emperor as a touchstone to see if her own understanding had any weaknesses or deviations.

The result proved that Yue Hongling’s understanding of the sword path was flawless, as textbook-perfect as the Sword Emperor’s.

In each clash, the Sword Emperor either retained or absorbed a little of Yue Hongling’s power. The longer the battle, the stronger his power grew, gradually becoming an unstoppable storm. This technique meant nothing to Yue Hongling; she seemed even more familiar with it than he was.

The onlookers were also familiar—everyone’s husband had used early techniques learned from the Sword Emperor.

As the fight continued, the Sword Emperor found it amusing: “You don’t seem to have understood this; rather, you’re very familiar with my methods.”

Yue Hongling looked a little embarrassed: “Yes, extremely familiar.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you inherited a trace of my sword intent from my later years. This Yuantu Sword is an early technique of mine, long abandoned. How are you familiar with it?”

“Your methods once helped my husband greatly; they were his main auxiliary combat technique for a time.”

“So your husband is the one who took the sword seal legacy I left at the outer tomb? And the evil sword guardian I left was also shattered by him?”

“Yes.”

“I thought my legacy would go to him—after all, it was a systematic inheritance. Yours… unexpected, unexpected.” The Sword Emperor laughed, said no more, and quickly turned to: “Watch out.”

With a “clang,” their long swords clashed, and both recoiled backward.

The Sword Emperor’s ancient sword suddenly came down from above, slashing straight like a cleaver.

On the distant snowy mountain, a ray of dawn light appeared just in time. After a night spent here, the morning sun was rising.

The sun rose from below, but the Sword Emperor’s sword came from above. The morning glow was suppressed by this strike, as if the sun that should have risen could not ascend.

This was not power—suppressed to the second level of the Imperial Realm, such might was impossible. This was intent.

That final vertical stroke among the horizontal and vertical—the sword that splits the sky and cuts through the void.

The “examination” of sword understanding was over. Now came true combat power, not just understanding of the sword, but also of this world and this sky.

In the eyes of those involved, this was an unavoidable strike, one filled with the suppression of laws.

Yue Hongling’s “Setting Sun and Fading Glow” was originally the final insight the Sword Emperor left behind in the ancient era when he sensed the end of an epoch… And with this strike, the Sword Emperor went a step further, making everything collapse. There would be no setting sun, because even the rising had ceased.

The Sword of Annihilation!

Yue Hongling was in retreat, her toes scraping the ground, leaving a mark. The next moment, she became one with her sword, shooting forward like lightning.

No longer the desolate setting sun of people’s memory, this sword was like the rising sun, full of vigor and vitality.

No matter if the opponent was the embodiment of the sword path, an ancient predecessor, or a teacher from a different era—the sword of this world should surpass the past. There was never a rule that inheriting someone meant being suppressed by them forever.

You only have the sword, believing that a husband or wife can only be the sword.

But I have a husband. We are fundamentally different. What suppression is there?

“Clang!”

The Sword Emperor’s sword came straight down. Just as the tip was parallel to the ground, Yue Hongling’s sword point met his.

A fierce, unmatched sword aura erupted from the clash of tips. Thousands of sword energies scattered in all directions, filling the sky like a rainstorm of swords.

Blood trickled from the corner of Yue Hongling’s mouth; she seemed injured.

Just as all onlookers held their breath, their minds captivated, the air twisted. A delicate hand grabbed the White Tiger, and a faint, almost imperceptible sword aura struck at her back.

Ye Jiuyou seized the chance to steal the White Tiger; Xue Xiao took the opportunity to ambush Yue Hongling!

Neither of them was any good.

San Niang quickly conjured a shield behind Yue Hongling. Xia Chichi and Huangfu Qing simultaneously attacked Xue Xiao. Huangfu Qing’s flames exploded before the Sword Emperor, trying to disrupt his suppression of Yue Hongling. Compared to obtaining the White Tiger, Yue Hongling’s safety was a thousand times more important. At that moment, none of the three had time to keep the White Tiger…

And that wasn’t all. The void twisted again, and a broadsword came crashing down toward the Sword Emperor’s head. In an instant, blood roared, and the stars and river inverted.

“I thought you were a respectable senior, yet you stoop so low!”

Gods and Buddhas scatter! Zhao Changhe!

San Niang and the others were rescuing Yue Hongling, but one link was missing. If the Sword Emperor took the chance to deliver a killing blow while Yue Hongling was deep in crisis, no one could save her. Just then, Zhao Changhe observed this from afar. The first thing he saw was this situation, and he struck with his strongest attack straight at the Sword Emperor!

The Sword Emperor flicked his wrist, and his sword light split. The sword aura seemed to have eyes—one blocked the broadsword from behind, one pressed down on Yue Hongling’s sword, and the last pierced through the flames, circled behind Yue Hongling, and struck directly at Xue Xiao.

Zhao Changhe: “?”

Xue Xiao: “?”

He twisted desperately to avoid the sword aura, only to realize that the Sword Emperor’s strike was no longer suppressed to the second level of the Imperial Realm, but at its peak power.

The Sword Emperor’s blade was no ordinary strike for anyone to evade. Snow Owl’s form vainly dissolved into a phantom, attempting to use the art of light-splitting and shadow-flitting to flash away—he had already flashed dozens of zhang distant, yet the sword aura still followed him precisely, cleaving him cleanly in two.

“Who gave you the audacity to interfere in a sword duel?” The Sword Emperor had long shed his earlier cordial tone with Yue Hongling; his voice was as cold as a blade’s edge. “No wonder Yue lass said this world’s sword arts are unworthy of mention. I wondered why you weren’t counted among them. Now I see—truly unworthy.”

Snow Owl’s body was split open, yet within him, shadowy breath still coalesced outward; his core remained the Dark Extinction.

The shadow roared: “If Yue Hongling does not die, you may no longer be the Sword Emperor! Utterly foolish!”

The Sword Emperor sneered, too lazy to even reply.

Huangfu Qing’s flames roared up around the gathering shadow, and the Dark Extinction screamed, writhing in the fire. The blazing inferno was the bane of shadows, utterly suppressing it. It struggled and wailed for a time, then gradually fell silent—whether dead or not, none could tell.

As the battle here shifted abruptly, over there, Ye Jiuyou, who was simultaneously trying to steal the White Tiger, had not succeeded directly either.

Just as she grabbed the White Tiger’s shoulder, attempting to whisk it away, Han Wubing vanished from his spot. The next moment, the White Tiger, whose eyes were mad and chaotic, utterly devoid of reason, suddenly lifted its head, its gaze filled with sharp sword aura.

Ye Jiuyou froze for an instant. The White Tiger and Han Wubing had merged seamlessly, and the longsword in his hand thrust straight into her lower abdomen.

The surging, roaring sword radiance was infinitely more overwhelming than the power of the Sword Emperor and Yue Hongling at the second tier of the Imperial Realm.

The third tier of the Imperial Realm!

Having played the fool and feigned weakness all along, Han Wubing and the White Tiger were no mere prey to be snatched and fought over without resistance. With this unexpected ambush, he was fully qualified to slay a third-tier Imperial Realm powerhouse.

Of course, Ye Jiuyou was no ordinary third-tier Imperial Realm…

She let the sword aura pierce her abdomen, her jade hand already pressing against Han Wubing’s forehead. Perhaps this strike would wound her, but if she could just touch his crown, the White Tiger would become her corpse puppet—worth the cost.

Yet at that same moment, a hazy purple aura rose between her and Han Wubing. The sword pierced through layers of obstruction, but ahead lay endless mountains and rivers, with no end in sight. Ye Jiuyou’s palm strike likewise landed on cotton; the power of life and death seeped into the boundless earth, vanishing without a trace.

A figure of peerless beauty appeared beside them, speaking calmly: “You deliberately trapped Changhe and me in the Nine Nether Abyss, just to keep him absent from this battle… but unfortunately, Changhe knew full well from start to finish.”

Piaomiao.

The White Tiger that Ye Jiuyou had nearly secured slipped away, and she fumed: “So this is what you call ‘he will help me’?”

Piaomiao said flatly: “You schemed against him first, so you forfeited his help… and now whom do you blame? Moreover…”

She paused, then smiled faintly: “He might not want you to be hurt. This idea of trading injury for the White Tiger—best abandon it.”

Ye Jiuyou raged: “Whether I get hurt or not is none of your damn business! Why meddle so much? Don’t think that just because you’re standing here, I can’t deal with you. Move aside, or I’ll take you on too!”

Piaomiao ignored her, turning to look at Han Wubing. By now, Han Wubing had stopped fighting, gazing somewhat absently at Zhao Changhe’s figure as he swung his blade at the Sword Emperor, neither speaking nor fleeing.

In the blink of an eye, the situation there had also changed. The chaotic battle, after the Sword Emperor personally struck down Snow Owl, suddenly fell into stillness.

In the distance, the sun peeked over the mountain peak.

Everyone was staring at Yue Hongling. Blood still stained the corner of her lips, her face pale, yet she smiled freely: “The nuisances are dealt with. Shall we continue, senior?”

All present understood clearly: Yue Hongling’s injury did not mean she had lost; on the contrary, it meant she had won. For the injury came from the Sword Emperor instinctively using a slightly stronger force—only when at a disadvantage would he be driven to unleash greater power to break through.

In terms of sword intent alone, the Sword Emperor’s will suppressed the sunrise, while Yue Hongling’s will embodied the rising sun. The sun’s emergence also signified that in the contest of sword intent, Yue Hongling had the slight edge. Though this edge borrowed from the heavens—she only needed to follow the natural order, while the Sword Emperor acted against it—naturally, her path was simpler.

But regardless of the reasons, she was indeed in the ascendant.

Of course, being in the ascendant did not mean victory. In any duel, momentum shifts constantly; a single advantage is still far from triumph. Snow Owl’s ambush had interrupted the match. Whether to continue now rested solely on the Sword Emperor’s decision.

The Sword Emperor, too, gazed somewhat pensively at the blood at Yue Hongling’s lips. After a moment of silence, he slowly said: “What need is there to continue? Since you made me instinctively use power beyond the agreed limit, you have already won.”

In a martial contest, any opponent with a modicum of grace would indeed concede on such grounds.

But the Sword Emperor’s quest seemed of great import—the false tombs, the collusion with Snow Owl, the schemes buried across an entire era—would it truly end so frivolously?

Yue Hongling asked in surprise: “But senior, your quest…”

The Sword Emperor glanced once more at Ye Jiuyou and Han Wubing, then turned and walked away directly: “My quest is already fulfilled. By combining my intent with the White Tiger’s, have you not already accomplished it in my stead? As for how to gain more of the White Tiger’s intent, that is your affair. Your sword intent has already told me—you are the rising dawn, and this world is yours.”

“Senior…”

The Sword Emperor did not reply. With his back turned, he waved a hand: “Your husband inherits the Flame, yet carries the intent of Night Nameless… an intriguing matter. At late autumn, in the southwestern wilds, we shall meet again.”

With that, he vanished in a flash.