The clash of sound, light, and shadow erupted: the Sky-Scorn roared, the Dragon-Fiend hissed, the colossal dragon suppressing the coiling serpent, and the serpent winding around the great beast. Black light flashed from the dragon’s sharp talons, while the serpent’s fangs were impossibly keen. Where they met, Gu Ling and Zhou Wang were instantly enveloped, and the entire world shuddered. The previously chaotic expanse above and below was cleaved into a brilliant, clear sky by that single blow.

“Whoosh!” The Sky-Scorn sword spun through the air and plunged deep into the earth. Though blood filled his mouth, Gu Ling stood firm on the desolate plain. His hand trembled, and his heart ached with a sharp pain; even as a master strategist, he could no longer discern the outcome of the battle.

“Hoo… This…” Ye Xiu felt an icy chill spread through him, for Gu Ling’s agony was now searing his own chest through their shared body. He had suffered countless wounds from blades and swords, but never one so suffocating, so devastatingly final. The instant the two swords met, his mind went blank; he could no longer distinguish life from death.

Zhou Wang stood alone, radiating absolute confidence. He turned, the Shadow Dragon-Fiend Sword still in his hand—a blade impossibly broad and weighty from hilt to tip. He sneered, ready to utter some cutting remark, when a crisp crack echoed clearly. In that instant, the massive Dragon-Fiend Sword was reduced to nothing more than its hilt.

A heavy blow struck Gu Ling’s heart. The vital energy he had been carefully guarding rushed upward, and he spat out a mouthful of blood: “You are royalty of the Death Kingdom. The Sword Demon would never commit an act that disgraces the royal bloodline. King Zhou, I yield!”

Zhou Wang stared at Gu Ling in shock. He was only partially aware of what had just transpired. The Eight Directions Sky-Scorn had reached its zenith; Gu Ling could have annihilated him with a single stroke. But at that most critical juncture, Gu Ling chose to redirect all his power against the Dragon-Fiend Sword. Zhou Wang sighed, conceding defeat despite his bitterness, and swore upon the broken sword: “I, King Zhou, shall leave this place forever, never again setting foot at the gates of the Death Kingdom. Should I break this oath, may my life be as shattered as this blade.”

“Hah!” The Eight Directions Gu Ling finally let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. To avoid fatally wounding Zhou Wang, he had absorbed the full force of that Dragon-Fiend Sword strike. Though not fatal, it had utterly destroyed the foundation of his perfection as a swordsman. This was fate; he accepted it.

Zhou Wang vanished in a flicker beneath the clear sky. In the vast expanse of ten thousand li, only the fallen Gu Ling remained, along with Ye Xiu, now trapped within his body.

“Hey, hey!” Ye Xiu struggled to push his voice through the suffocating environment. He felt encased in a world made entirely of sponge—no strength to break free, no means to escape. All he could do was wait, wait for the moment the Eight Directions Gu Ling would rise again.

……

“Rumble… rumble…” The ground outside the Fourth Tier Tower began to heave. Though the second memorial archway hadn't completely collapsed, it was half-toppled onto the pavilion, signaling that Ye Xiu’s second phase of divine weapon forging was underway.

“Senior Blade Maniac!” Mei Yi was worried for Ye Xiu. She looked anxiously toward Blade Maniac, asking, “What is this…”

“Did he run into some kind of problem?” Blade Maniac was equally uncertain. He tilted his head back, trying to recall. “I never heard Bing Ao or Yan Luo mention a situation like this. Could this Ye Xiu fellow have died! And the forging process halted by itself?”

“Died? Impossible!” Old Liu reacted with more agitation than Mei Yi. He jumped up and grabbed Blade Maniac, “Old man, don’t joke around! This Fourth Tier Tower is where weapons are forged; it shouldn't be fatal, should it?”

Mei Yi was also at a loss. Ye Xiu was a God of Death; surely a Death God could never truly die: “Senior Blade Maniac, do you recall the specifics of how Bing Ao and Yan Luo entered the Fourth Tier Tower?”

“Specifics?” Hearing Mei Yi mention it, Blade Maniac didn't find it strange. “They both entered empty-handed. Nothing unusual happened in between?”

Old Liu also found the matter suspicious. Entering empty-handed implied that the necessary raw materials were already inside. “I can’t think of anything unusual, but I know one thing: they both possessed the raw essence of the Sun, Moon, and Stars!”

“Anything else? I mean, similarities!” Mei Yi’s eyes sharpened. She guided Blade Maniac to recall events from long ago. “Before they entered, did they share any similarities in their bodies or abilities?”

“When Bing Ao entered, he had already received the inheritance of the Stellar Flare. When Yan Luo entered, he had already met that woman…” Blade Maniac bent over, concentrating deeply, and seemed to recall something. “After Yan Luo met that woman, he gained certain powers, even immortality. And Bing Ao, at that time, was also in a state of Flare-induced eternal life. They… they both possessed immortal bodies!”

“Immortal bodies! Yes, that’s it.” Mei Yi seemed to have grasped the crucial point. She pointed at the leaning archway and shouted, “Ye Xiu is a Death God; he should also possess an immortal body!”

“A Death God?” Blade Maniac certainly knew some legends of the Primordial Death Gods, but he treated this lineage merely as exceptionally powerful beings, unaware of any deeper significance. “A Death God possesses immortality? Are you suggesting Bing Ao and Yan Luo were both some kind of Death Gods?”

“You’ve got to be kidding! Who told you that Ye Xiu fellow was immortal!” Old Liu, having spent the longest time with Ye Xiu, certainly knew that Ye Xiu was a man who feared death, though he had simply never faced a truly existential crisis until now.

Mei Yi shot Old Liu a disdainful glance and continued her deduction: “Bing Ao, Yan Luo, and Ye Xiu are all Death Gods. The powers they gained are the powers of the Death Gods. I never imagined that my Yu Yu Blade Sealing Alliance was connected to the ancient Death Gods.”

Blade Maniac, having entered the world as a mortal, was naturally intrigued by the mention of antiquity. He looked at Mei Yi’s excitement and forced a wry smile: “Since there are so many mysteries, we might as well return to Star Peak and question that old fox Bing Ao clearly. Why waste time guessing here!”

“Exactly!” Old Liu shot Blade Maniac a look. Turns out, the old man was completely unreliable, only capable of wild guesswork. If he knew nothing from the start, they should have gone back to Bing Ao immediately!

“Swish-thwack…” Just as the three thought they had found a clue, a series of urgent blade sounds echoed from beyond the plaza. A head, reeking of fresh blood, shot forward and landed before them. It was a withered face, whose features were barely concealed by a beard dripping with gore—the severed head of Bing Ao.

“Who is it!” Blade Maniac reacted instantly. His Yellow Sand Greatsword whirled into his hand, and he flung it toward the edge of the plaza. He spotted a tall figure lurking in the shadows, his chest boiling with rage. That strike was meant to shatter everything around it: “You actually killed Bing Ao!”

“Clang!” A sharp sound rang out. The newcomer merely raised a hand slightly, blocking Blade Maniac’s attack with a long saber much smaller than the Yellow Sand Greatsword. A middle-aged man then walked out from the shadows, clad in black tatou armor. He was of average build, with a stern expression, deep brows, and large eyes; his curly hair resembled a cluster of small snakes atop his head. He glanced at Blade Maniac with reproach: “Your days guarding the Sun, Moon, and Stars are nearly over. You should return the immortality I granted you.”

“You… you are Yan Luo…” Blade Maniac’s initial ferocity faltered when he recognized the newcomer. He immediately kicked off the edge of Yan Luo’s blade, intending to vault himself back.

“All three of you must die!” Yan Luo’s eyes burned with fury. He brought his long saber down, sending out a streak of black blade light that instantly cleaved Blade Maniac into several pieces!

“Watch out!” Old Liu was quick, but by the time he rushed forward wielding the Demon-Breaking Sword, Blade Maniac’s body had already been pulverized into dust by endless slashes. Swallowing hard, he tried to launch a One-Character Sword Shadow strike to repel Yan Luo.

Yan Luo turned his head, his fierce expression softening slightly. He glanced at the Demon-Breaking Sword: “Ah, the Avici Sword. Did you think a weapon I forged could wound me?”

“What!” Old Liu attacked Yan Luo alongside the Demon-Breaking Sword Formation, but at that moment, the Demon-Breaking Sword abruptly halted in mid-air. Unable to dodge in time, Old Liu crashed heavily onto the ground. He looked back to see the Demon-Breaking Sword now circling harmlessly around Yan Luo’s feet, like a tame dog. “Demon-Breaking Sword!”

“You call that the Demon-Breaking Sword?” Yan Luo retracted his long saber, which remained perpetually black, its true form concealed. He looked down at Old Liu: “Little friend, since you have a connection with Avici, I will let you have it. But waiting outside the Fourth Tier Tower is pointless; no one knows what happens inside!”

“Hah!” At that moment, Mei Yi rushed forward, controlling the Lunar Crystal Wheel. She swept her hand, transforming the wheel into a long whip, striking down and forcing Yan Luo to leap away from Old Liu. “Why did you kill Senior Blade Maniac!”

Yan Luo grinned at Mei Yi, showing no pity for the life just extinguished: “Bing Ao, Sword Maniac, and Blade Maniac were never truly alive to begin with. They lived by incorporating the essence of the Sun, Moon, and Stars into their bodies. Now that the Sun, Moon, and Stars have re-entered the Fourth Tier Tower, I no longer need them.”

Old Liu grumbled as he pulled himself up from the ground, watching his prized weapon dance near Yan Luo. He snapped, “So you are Yan Luo. I didn't expect that, after so much time, the Alliance Master of the Yu Yu Blade Sealing Alliance would still look so radiant, without a trace of aging.”

“This is the tomb of the First Emperor. Do you know what the First Emperor’s greatest contribution to history was?” Yan Luo licked his lips with a slightly perverse gesture. “He ordered the search for the method of eternal life—oh, no! It should be the discovery of the woman capable of granting eternal life: the Ten Thousand Demon Empress.”

“The Ten Thousand Demon Empress?” Old Liu trembled upon hearing the name. Deep in his memory, there seemed to be a record of having fought someone like her, and someone else connected to this Empress…