Chapter 366: Supreme Sword

High above, six Body Integration stage experts clashed, each displaying miraculous abilities. The cultivators below watched in a daze of dazzling lights. Even Lu Yang and his four companions kept their eyes glued to the battle, for a clash between Body Integration masters was an exceedingly rare sight.

Only one person had no heart to watch the combat, instead glaring with gnashing teeth at the ancient cultivator couple.

"Damn ancient cultivators, you appear everywhere!" Vice Sect Master Shi, currently inside the barbecue shop, wished he could rush up and join the fight himself to give the ancient couple a sound thrashing, or better yet, kill them and refine them into corpse puppets to vent his rage.

Around here, for the sake of safety, the Qingzhou Grand Assembly would definitely be brought to a hasty end.

No matter the outcome of this battle, the government would have to thoroughly investigate everything.

The Qingzhou Grand Assembly was supposed to last eight days, but now it was ending after only two. He had come to Qingzhou to conduct field research, checking out the barbecue.

He wanted to see if there was a market here, what kinds of skewers Qingzhou people liked best, so he could prepare according to local conditions.

Facts proved that the barbecue shop was immensely popular with the people of Qingzhou, showing broad prospects.

He had also planned to use the grand assembly to build the shop's reputation and open up the Qingzhou market.

Now, all of that had turned into empty talk.

"Ancient cultivators, huh? Don't let me catch you!" Website.

In terms of cultivation and combat power, he was far superior to the three sect deputies.

Joining the fray would absolutely guarantee an overwhelming victory.

Unfortunately, his identity was special, and he could not participate in the fight.

If his true identity were discovered, he would be utterly doomed.

"Stealing the Sky and Exchanging the Sun!" The male cultivator formed hand seals, and dark clouds blanketed the sky, blocking the sunlight. The sky instantly turned pitch black, so dark one could not see their own hand, and a chilling sound of teeth grinding came from the darkness, like a massive creature chewing on bones.

"Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts!" Another voice shouted in a stern cry. It was the female cultivator, who exhaled endless black mist, clump after clump. The black mist floated in the air, gradually condensing into the shapes of various ghosts.

Chang ghosts, seductive ghosts, blade ghosts, headless ghosts, corpse-borrowing ghosts...

The hundred ghosts stood silent and deathly still, like an army of the undead, overturning the mortal world.

Had there been no restrictions blocking them, the deathly aura of these hundred ghosts could have turned this entire mountain into a barren waste, leaving no soul alive.

Even knowing that the ground below was unaffected, the faint-hearted who witnessed this scene trembled to their very bones, wishing to flee the place.

"Let me tell you all, don't be afraid. With the Governor here, these are just cheap tricks that can't face the light of day," the Body Integration stage expert maintaining the boundary rules said to Lu Yang and the others.

After some conversation, they learned his name was Xia Qun, in the early Body Integration stage.

"Furthermore, the Governor possesses the state providence, which is more than enough to deal with these country-bumpkin ancient Body Integration cultivators who haven't seen the world. I wonder when I'll ever become a Governor myself."

"You don't need to treat me like a stranger. Actually, I share a bond with your Five Great Immortal Sects, so you can consider me half a senior brother to you all."

"Senior Xia joined an Immortal Sect?" Lan Ting asked curiously.

"Well, no, but I did take your Immortal Sect's entrance trial. The questions were brutally hard, you know. I was weeded out in the very first round, missing the chance to be your senior brother by just a hair. Calling myself half a senior brother isn't an exaggeration, is it?"

Lan Ting: "..."

"I originally wanted to try my luck at the Dao Seeking Sect, too. On my way there, I happened to take the imperial examination. Well, I passed, and that's how I got into officialdom." Xia Qun was remarkably talkative, completely dispelling the tense atmosphere for Lu Yang and his companions.

"As expected of wicked heretics!" The Governor held the grand seal in his hand as a continuous stream of power surged into his body. His aura rose higher and higher, causing the eyelids of the ancient cultivator couple to twitch; the man was now infinitely close to the Tribulation Transmutation stage.

A faint glimmer of light radiated from the Governor, like the dawn breaking through the dark night. The tiny glimmer suddenly exploded outward, dispelling the darkness and purging the deathly aura from the hundred ghosts, though the ghosts remained, wielding their weapons and flaunting their might.

Behind the male cultivator loomed a bizarrely shaped specter, its body as colossal as a mountain, clutching a bone club capable of plucking the sun, moon, and stars.

"Attack!" At the female cultivator's command, the army of a hundred ghosts marched forth in a grand torrent, pouncing toward the Governor's faction.

"Leave these entities to me, Twelve Heavy Towers!" Daoist Master Zhang stood at the very front, making a strange sound from his nasal cavity.

A golden pavilion appeared above the hundred ghosts, radiating an immeasurable aura. The ghostly army wailed in succession, and half of their forces perished on the spot.

"As expected of the Heavy Tower Pavilion, which regularly handles ghostly plagues. The Twelve Heavy Towers remain as effective as ever against specters," Principal Hong teased, flipping open the "Sayings of the Sages." Individual characters came alive from the book, charging toward the remaining ghostly army.

"Confucian methods, calling words to serve as soldiers. A pity a crude man like me can't learn it," Sect Master Mi looked on with envy as Principal Hong fought with the mere flick of a finger.

"If I can't learn it, so be it!" Sect Master Mi roared, flying into a mad frenzy. His eyes grew dazed as he lost his sanity, leaping like an ape to smash down upon the female cultivator.

The female cultivator raised a fist to meet Sect Master Mi's strike. She was surprised to find that this mid-Body Integration cultivator matched her, a peak Body Integration expert, almost equally in pure strength.

"It seems he exchanged his sanity for temporary power." The female cultivator was no simpleton; a brief clash allowed her to see through Sect Master Mi's method.

"Nothing to fear!" A battle required far more than just raw strength.

"What if the two of us are added to the mix!" Daoist Master Zhang and Principal Hong arrived after finishing off the hundred ghosts, joining forces to besiege the female cultivator.

On the other side of the battlefield, the Governor summoned a Mountain-Moving Sage, who hurled a mountain at the male cultivator's specter. The specter met it with its bone club. The mountain, formed from the state providence, exploded instantly upon contact with the club, sending a wave of air skyward that scattered the dark clouds overhead.

The Governor then summoned an Axe-Wielding Sage, who swung a massive axe directly at the male cultivator. The male cultivator's expression changed as he pulled the specter over to block the strike, causing black blood to pour from its chest.

"Heh, training the Manifestation of Heaven and Earth into such a hideous shape counts as a skill, I suppose," the Immortal Fairy teased, snorting disdainfully at the male cultivator's methods.

"Or is it that the appearance reflects the heart, and he actually prefers looking like that?"

"Who will win?" Lu Yang asked secretly.

"Naturally the Great Xia side. Great Xia's overall combat power is a tier higher than theirs, and they have the state providence to help. The providence can both defend and attack; what do the ancient cultivators have to win with?"

"Is that so?" Lu Yang mused, feeling that something was not quite right.

"You forced my hand!" Enraged, the male cultivator drew a pair of golden scissors from his robe. The scissors transformed into two golden dragons that soared through the sky, unleashing waves of dragon roars that disrupted the spiritual energy fluctuations of the battlefield.

The appearance of the golden dragons was like tossing a stone into a calm lake, ripples spreading across the entire body of water.

The spiritual energy of the entire Qingzhou region began to fluctuate.

"A Dharma treasure refined by a Tribulation Transmutation expert!" The Governor had seen such treasures in the Imperial City; a Body Integration cultivator had to pay a massive price to activate such an item.

"Fortunately, before we went to sleep, the two of us sacrificed an entire city of people, otherwise activating the Golden Dragon Scissors would indeed have been difficult."

"Go!" The male cultivator commanded the two golden dragons to wrap around the specter's arms as it charged toward the Governor.

The Governor channeled the power of the state providence, which transformed into a long sword as vast as a river. On one side of the blade were carved the myriad citizens, and on the other were carved the mountains and rivers.

"A projection of the Supreme Sword, the Governor is going all out!" Xia Qun cried out in shock. "Using the projection of the Supreme Sword once means the Governor cannot perform bedroom duties for three months."

"Let me tell you, utilizing the phantom of the Supreme Sword demands a grim price, but its effect is absolutely stellar. Unless a Tribulation Transmutation expert appears, the Governor can hack both of these ancient cultivators to death with it."

The projection of the Supreme Sword collided with the golden dragon specter, producing a brilliant light that forced everyone present to close their eyes.

"Who won?" No one could judge which side was stronger or weaker.

As the smoke cleared, the projection of the Supreme Sword shattered, the golden dragons vanished, the Golden Dragon Scissors broke, and the specter was severed at the waist, black blood flowing continuously. The male cultivator was severely injured, spitting out fresh blood.

In contrast, the Governor looked radiant and energetic, as if no collision had ever occurred.

"The Governor won!" The cultivators below cheered, and Sect Master Mi and the others also breathed a sigh of relief. If the Governor had lost, it would have been difficult to stop these two ancient cultivators.

Clap—Clap—Clap—

A rhythmic sound of clapping echoed. The sound was thin, yet it suppressed all other noises. When the clapping sounded for the third time, the entire venue fell dead silent.

A figure clothed in red appeared in the center of the battlefield, stepping through the void. When one scanned with divine sense, they would find no trace of spiritual energy inside him, making him seem like an ordinary mortal.

But how could a mortal appear here?

The red-clothed figure wore a faint smirk as he spoke slowly, "I have long heard that Great Xia's state providence is extraordinary. Seeing it today, it truly is remarkable; it can protect the citizens, raise realms and combat power, and even transform into the phantom of a sharp sword."

"Though I cannot tell what sword this is, to be able to sever a Tribulation-grade Dharma treasure with a mere phantom, its original body must surely be above the Tribulation Transmutation stage."

"It seems this battle I painstakingly arranged was not in vain; I have reaped a great harvest."

The Governor’s expression turned grim, as though confronting a mortal foe. "Was this your doing?"

He had found it strange; the secret realm had been thoroughly inspected and deemed safe, devoid of any slumbering ancient cultivators. Where, then, had these two emerged from?

Now it was clear—someone was pulling the strings behind them.

Below, Meng Jingzhou grew anxious. "The Governor looks pale. The opponent must be in the Tribulation Transmutation Stage."

If a Tribulation-stage master chose to slaughter everyone here, who could possibly stop them?

"What do we do?" Meng Jingzhou sent a panicked transmission to Lu Yang.

"Don't worry, they won't cause any waves," Lu Yang replied, entirely composed.

"Where do you get such confidence?"

Meng Jingzhou turned his head in astonishment.

Only then did he notice a stunningly beautiful woman with a cold gaze standing right beside Lu Yang.

Xia Qun stood nearby, not daring to make a sound.

"Eldest Senior Sister?!"

Lu Yang had long suspected that someone was plotting behind the scenes, so to play it safe, he had summoned his Eldest Senior Sister in advance.