"A dead bat's white eye amounts to nothing!" Old Liu grinned, having already locked onto the trajectory of the dead bat's flight and charged towards it. At this moment, his Demon-Slaying Sword, the Ice Dragon, surged anew, sending a torrent of chilling energy straight at the creature.

"Haooo!" From beneath the earth, the Sand Demon Worm seemed to anticipate the danger facing the dead bat. Its enormous claw suddenly burst forth, sending a cascade of boulders rolling toward Old Liu's position.

"Don't even think about it!" Ye Xiu sprinted onto the massive claw of the Sand Demon Worm. His black flames erupted, batting down the flying stones. Facing the giant claw directly, he crouched low for a strike, intending to disrupt its aim. Just then, the giant python far up the mountain suddenly swept its tail, its target precisely him. "Yan Luo, what are you doing!"

"Damn it, this thing is too big." Yan Luo cleaved down with his long saber against the python's body, but its armor was too rigid, launching him backward. Out of options, he used the momentum of the python's tail strike to propel himself directly toward the Sand Demon Worm's giant claw.

"Bad news, this fellow is about to open its white eyes!" Old Liu swept his sword across, sending the Ice Dragon drilling towards the sky. However, a beam of light suddenly shot out from the dead bat's white eye. As the light intensified, both Yan Luo and Ye Xiu below instantly lost their vision. The Sand Demon Worm's claw took the opportunity to close in on him. "Damn it, what now!"

"Swoosh-ka!" Old Liu channeled energy in front of him but couldn't dodge in time; he was clamped tightly in the giant claw. He looked up to see the dead bat tumbling gleefully high above. A ray of light shot from its blue eye, instantly enveloping Old Liu in a viscous substance. "What are you two doing!"

"We're right beside you! What's the panic?" Suddenly, Ye Xiu and Yan Luo's vision was restored. Ye Xiu seized the moment, channeling his black flames to incinerate the sticky goo. "Kid, hurry and knock down that dead bat, or none of our attacks will be effective!"

"Dong-dang!" Far down the mountain, Yan Luo split the giant python with his saber once more. While this blow still couldn't wound it seriously, the immense force knocked the beast off the mountain. Seizing the moment, he launched himself with a kick directly toward Old Liu's feet. "A kick for your strength!"

"Ya-oh!" The force driving Old Liu sideways sent his body soaring to the same altitude as the dead bat. He noticed the dead bat's blue eye lighting up again, another sticky substance rushing toward him. He tilted slightly, wrapping his Thin Blade thread around the viscous material. Using it as an anchor, he swung in an arc across the sky before landing squarely on the dead bat's back.

"Get it done!" Ye Xiu nervously held his breath for Old Liu, but he couldn't afford to rest. The Sand Demon Worm beneath him was already restlessly spewing out several black stones into the sky. He dodged left and right, grabbing his iron rod and knocking down quite a few as if batting baseballs.

"This sword strike is to avenge myself!" Old Liu fiercely drove the Demon-Slaying Sword into the dead bat's tough back. The chilling Dragon Qi accompanying the strike rapidly froze the dead bat, then shattered it into pieces. Old Liu flipped, finding himself positioned perfectly above the giant python. The Dragon Qi, unable to be recalled, caused the icy energy to engulf the python as well.

Yan Luo rejoiced inwardly and seized the opportunity, sweeping his saber across the python's body. He expected success, but the python was too massive; the Ice Dragon Qi could only freeze its outer shell, inflicting no real damage to its core. His strike failed, and he was instead swept by the python's tail, slamming hard against the cliff face—a painful blow. "Is this thing truly impervious to blades and spears?"

"Let's deal with the smaller one first." Ye Xiu was now bouncing on the Sand Demon Worm's back, simultaneously swinging his iron rod and using his black flames to burn the creature's hide. But this creature's hard shell was no less formidable than the python's; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach its true body. "Old Liu, is there no way to enhance the Ice Dragon Qi on your Demon-Slaying Sword!"

Helpless, Old Liu extended the threads of his Thin Blade, pulling Ye Xiu over to the cliff face as well. He looked at the injured Yan Luo and asked, "Hey, do you recognize this sword in my hand?"

"Hmph, although the appearance is unfamiliar, I can sense what lies within its core. This is Abi, one of the Twin Saint Swords of the Underworld!" Yuan Tu and Abi were divine weapons forged by Yan Luo himself. Though he couldn't decipher the origin of Old Liu's sword, the essence of the weapon remained unchanged. "What's wrong? Is this sword restricting your power?"

Ye Xiu also stared at the black, dragon-shaped sword in Old Liu's hand. The sword had been with Old Liu for days, but Old Liu was a cultivator of the Dao, and wielding this sinister long sword prevented him from utilizing his true Taoist arts. "Since you forged this divine weapon, you should understand the relationship between a sword and its wielder."

Looking at the roaring python and Sand Demon Worm below the cliff, Yan Luo smiled. "Abi was forged in the Blood Sea of the Nether River; it is a sword steeped in Yin poison, best suited for those from the Underworld. Unfortunately, your body is filled with righteous Daoist cultivation. Trying to drive Abi's power with Daoist arts is simply wishful thinking."

"Is there any way to break through!" Old Liu raised his Demon-Slaying Sword. He certainly remembered the time within the Rushi Gate when the sword self-awakened and nearly seized control of his mind—that version of the Demon-Slaying Sword was truly a Saint Sword of the Underworld.

"Since Abi has acknowledged you as its master, it indicates you have roots connected to the Underworld people. I imagine only your blood can awaken it." Saying this, Yan Luo confidently pointed and plunged his hand deep into Old Liu's abdomen. In that instant, Old Liu's blood spilled onto the ground and stained Abi.

"Ah, you..." Old Liu nearly collapsed from the sudden attack. He clenched the Demon-Slaying Sword, glaring at Yan Luo, ready to lash out, when suddenly the sword erupted in white light, even stronger than the dead bat's glare. "What is this? Could my blood enhance the Demon-Slaying Sword's power?"

Ye Xiu had been startled by Yan Luo's action, but at that moment, the giant python below surged upward, opening its tripartite mouth. He shoved Old Liu. "Quick, use everything you have! Where are your Black Talismans?"

"You don't need to tell me!" Old Liu's words had barely left his lips before he had flashed above the python's head. The Demon-Slaying Sword was imbued with an unusual brilliance. As the sword descended, several white cold dragons rose from the sky, piercing deep into the python's body. The python's body shifted from dark to white, then became utterly transparent. In a short while, it froze from the inside out and then exploded into countless shards of ice.

"Awo-kaka-ka!" Those incredibly sharp ice shards pierced into the tough shell of the Sand Demon Worm below. It shrieked, trying to burrow back into the earth, but two shapeless divine weapons had materialized beside it.

"If we can't cut it, how about we physically pry its head off?" Ye Xiu's eyes bloodshot, he jammed his iron rod firmly into the Sand Demon Worm's neck joint. He glanced at Yan Luo, who was performing the same action opposite him. "Hey Death God, don't hold me back."

"Ya-ah..." Yan Luo was beside himself with rage. With a surge of strength, he yanked the hardened carapace and flesh away from the Sand Demon Worm's neck joint. "Let's see if your flesh is as tough!"

"Puchi..." With force exerted by both sides, all the legs and feet of the Sand Demon Worm spasmed wildly. Its head was violently wrenched from its body. The overwhelming stench of blood and the twitching remains scattered below stained the previously dark Lingquan Mountain with a vibrant, new green from the thick gore erupting from its neck. The three bodies of the Xuanji Hook Worm were utterly broken by these three men.

"Damn, you Death Gods are all such brutal fellows." Old Liu floated down gently from the sky, shivering at the sight of Ye Xiu and Yan Luo brutally killing the Sand Demon Worm. "This thing was at least a Divine Beast level; couldn't you have given it a shred of dignity when you killed it?"

"This is dignity." At this moment, Yan Luo raised the rudimentary form of his long saber high. As the Sand Demon Worm's green blood sprayed out, a dark spiritual pearl materialized in mid-air. The pearl was filled with swirling black gas. As soon as the gas saw the long saber in Yan Luo's hand, it rushed toward it like lightning to a lightning rod, dyeing the saber with a shade of deep black. "This is the Earth Soul that divine weapons require!"

"Earth Soul?" Ye Xiu was still somewhat confused, but the iron rod in his hand suddenly reacted on its own. The gas slid down from the pearl without hesitation and entered it. The surge of power made Ye Xiu grab the surrounding cliff face for support. "The divine weapons have successfully absorbed the Human Pearl and the Earth Soul. How do we obtain the Heavenly Soul?"

"Let's go see how our First Emperor is doing!" Yan Luo didn't answer Ye Xiu directly. He flew up and leaped into Lingquan Mountain. "If you want to know what the Heavenly Soul is, follow me."

"Damn it, you two got what you wanted, and I got nothing after all that work, ending up covered in blood," Old Liu muttered, clutching his wound, worried about his own abilities. This Demon-Slaying Sword was truly perverse, requiring the master's blood to function. He should have asked Ming Luo Sheng about controlling the Nether River Blood Ranks earlier.

Ye Xiu watched Yan Luo's distant figure, sensing things were not so simple. He retracted his iron rod and used the power of his black flames to ascend into the mountain. He came here to complete the forging of the Tian Miao Sword, but why was Yan Luo forging a sword here? What was that long saber in his hand? It was a divine weapon—could it be the yet-to-be-perfected Yu Huang Zhan? Did that mean Sha Jun Tian Xia also entered the world at this time? Would he have to face the notorious Tyrant Ji Du, Sha Jun Tian Xia, once again in this world? Was the Tian Miao Sword destined for another fateful confrontation with the Yu Huang Zhan?