"Sorceries and tricks can never match a divine beast!" Empress Wu scoffed, never sparing Old Liu a second glance. She retreated slightly, leaving the battlefield high in the Nine Heavens to Chiwen.

The dark clouds stirred; the silhouette of a water dragon in the sky had already firmly coiled around Chiwen. It writhed in response to the dance of Old Liu's long sword, water splashing from its dragon head as if in open defiance of Chiwen.

Chiwen grew immensely enraged. Despite its massive size, it found itself entirely enveloped in vapor. At that moment, it impatiently lashed its tail toward the dragon's head. But the water dragon, composed only of rainwater, instantly dissolved into droplets upon Chiwen's heavy strike, falling onto its back. This was not the end; the drops slowly coursed over Chiwen's outline, and when they reformed into the long dragon shape again, it had Chiwen securely bound in the air.

"Aooooah!" As a divine beast born of the Dragon lineage, how could Chiwen allow itself to be restrained by a mere magical construct? It opened its massive jaws and took a deep breath. In that instant, not only the rainwater from above but even the dust from the ground soared into the air and were consumed into its maw.

"Dodge!" This confrontation had already surpassed the scope of human capability. The Venerable stepped back with a leap, commanding all her clansmen to retreat into the depths of the mountains.

"Ah!" Seeing Chiwen's movements falter, Old Liu empowered his entire body with a black talisman, instantly transforming into a mighty falcon. He soared towards the heavens, and just as he neared Chiwen, he reverted to human form. In that moment, Jade Separation Sword in hand, he became a streak of crimson light, aiming directly for Chiwen's eye and plunging the blade in. Suddenly, between heaven and earth, only Chiwen's despairing shriek could be heard.

"Pfft!" Heavily wounded, Chiwen convulsed, shattering the water dragon. The scattered droplets rushed back into its mouth. At this point, it could no longer control the entire airflow within its jaws. The moment they all transmuted into fierce flames, Chiwen spewed them forth. The sky became filled with fire-red raindrops, large and small, incinerating the continent below.

"Summon vines!" Seeing the spark threatening to ignite a prairie fire, the Venerable immediately ordered all cultivators of the Sacred Arts to summon the surrounding vines. These vines whipped mercilessly against the turf, laboriously extinguishing the flames.

"Swoosh..." Old Liu watched Chiwen thrash at the horizon, shaking its head and tail, and raised his long sword, preparing to deliver the killing blow. However, a beam of white light shot across, blocking his attack vector. Without hesitation, he pursued the direction of the light and struck down with his sword, hitting Empress Wu squarely in the shoulder. The sword sliced through her body, emerging from behind without a shred of mercy.

"You..." Empress Wu leaned toward where Old Liu stood, choking on her words. Her eyes were filled with disappointment—the kind a woman feels for a man. "I never expected I, Empress Wu, would finally fall by this sword of yours!"

Old Liu drew his sword. In an instant, the blade dissolved into a flurry of maple leaves. He looked at the woman who had once sacrificed herself to save him, his feelings a complex mixture: "E Qian, how wonderful it would have been if you hadn't become the successor of Empress Wu."

"Hmph. If I hadn't been Empress Wu's successor, I would have died at the hands of those bandits years ago." The hatred in Empress Wu's eyes was palpable. She lowered her head slightly; the countless small snakes above her head had lost their previous vitality, and her cheeks were withered, devoid of the luster of human skin. "Everyone from Buxian Mountain must pay the price. Not a single one shall escape the fate of death."

"You've gone mad!" Old Liu suddenly reprimanded, gesturing toward the royal clansmen behind him. "These people, just like you, hail from Buxian Mountain. They once served the Empress Wu who controlled everything here, yet you..."

"Kill her! Kill her!" At this point, the clansmen who had fled into the mountains began to emerge, shaking their hands in righteous indignation and shouting. Most of them were unaware of Empress Wu's history. In their eyes, it was Empress Wu who brought the divine beast and the war; only by killing her could the conflict cease.

"Empress Wu, you have no retreat left!" The Venerable stepped up beside Old Liu. She knew Empress Wu was an evil seed buried in Buxian Mountain; she had known since the day Empress Wu was suspended atop the peak that this seed would eventually destroy everything.

"Chiwen..." Empress Wu, despite her sword wound, painfully raised her arm. Clutched in her palm was a small jade tablet—the Soul Weapon Talisman bestowed upon her by the Saint Empress of Ten Thousand Demons!

"Stubbornly unrepentant!" A strange light flashed from the Venerable's staff. With a slight raise, a ball of fire shot toward Empress Wu's arm. With a crisp pa, the Soul Weapon Talisman in Empress Wu's hand was knocked soaring into the air.

Old Liu, discerning the power of the Soul Weapon Talisman, leaped up and chased after it. At that very moment, a colossal bolt of lightning ripped down from the Nine Heavens, shattering Chiwen's crucial seventh scale. A gleaming long sword, and a silhouette clad in black, coldly appeared beneath Buxian Mountain.

"Wuuu..." Chiwen screamed as it tumbled from the sky, instantly dyeing the earth deep crimson with its gushing blood.

The black figure stood upon the ground that resembled scorched charcoal. He clenched the black flames in his hand and exerted force; Chiwen's skin instantly disintegrated, its entire surface turning into wisps of white smoke that rushed into the hands of the newcomer—who was none other than the Great General Han Xin!

"Chiwen has turned into white bones!" The Venerable held her staff across her chest. Even with her present, the strength of everyone gathered could not match this warrior in black.

"Cultivator, do you also covet the Soul Weapon Talisman?" At this moment, Ji Jiang stepped out from behind Han Xin. She wore a purple skirt, and a plain white robe clung tightly to her slender body. Her skirt was long, trailing over ten meters, all stained scarlet with Chiwen's blood. She sneered at the helpless Empress Wu, "Heh, the former Empress Wu, brought to such a state again."

"Saint Empress..." Empress Wu swayed, staggering toward Ji Jiang and leaning on her. She lowered her head to tend to her wound. "Your subordinate has failed to uphold the Saint Empress's prestige. I await your punishment."

Ji Jiang cast a disdainful glance at Buxian Mountain, then slowly moved to stand beside Han Xin. She murmured softly, "This is your first step, King of the Underworld!"

"Hoo..." Han Xin swept his right hand horizontally, and the black flames bypassed Old Liu and the Venerable, directly igniting every living thing behind them. In that instant, there was the sound of wood cracking as it burned, the crisp noise of the earth splitting, and, of course, the screams of clansmen turning to ash. The entirety of Buxian Mountain instantly transformed into a sea of fire.

"Ah!" The Venerable, witnessing the impending doom of her clansmen, could not contain her fury and summoned several strands of soul energy to attack Han Xin. However, these attacks merely struck him and were completely absorbed.

"Descendant of the Queen Mother of the West, you too must pay the price for the lineage of the God of Death!" Han Xin pointed his black flames toward the Venerable, clenching a ball of fire in one hand like a fist and striking toward her, knocking her flying hard.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.