Without delay, Ye Xiu channeled the might of the Heavenly Miasma Sword, plunging it into the wall instantly, thus narrowly avoiding a massive clash. Drawing upon that very force, he shot upward into the clouds, utterly unconcerned with Yan Shangcheng’s eyes burning with hatred. His sole pursuit was the silhouette of Yun Xin.

Old Liu spurred his steed forward only to see plumes of thick smoke rising from the heart of the East Wind region. He grabbed Ye Xiu, pulling him back: “That must be the poison gas from the Demon Worm Sect. We need to flee the Barren Bone City quickly.”

“But…” Ye Xiu pressed against the ramparts, searching left and right. With Jia Yun Xin hidden somewhere and Yan Shangcheng closing in, he had no choice but to leap out with Old Liu.

“Aha ha ha ha…” Yan Shangcheng tumbled down, falling headfirst toward the ground. His eyes were bloodshot from sheer killing intent; he no longer seemed to know what he was doing. The activation of the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot demanded endless blood for slaughter throughout the world, yet, Yan Shangcheng’s own consciousness simultaneously reawakened. In that instant, his entire body froze, then shot away like a meteor, disappearing somewhere beyond the confines of Barren Bone City.

…

The massacre within Barren Bone City raged on. The Beast Elder, leading the Beast Sect army, had reached the city walls and now faced the Barren Bone Sword Guards across the divide.

Due to Yan Shangcheng’s rampage, Jia Ye found himself kneeling alone in the Forest of Burial outside the city—the very place he had intended to lure Yan Shangcheng, for it was the ancestral tomb of the Yan family. Facing the Yan legacy now, he couldn't quite settle his emotions. He never imagined this family harbored the ancient Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot. Avenging Yan Shangcheng was a minor issue; the Heavenly Pivot itself was a curse upon the realm. “Sigh…”

“If you knew this day would come, why act so rashly in the first place, Great Sect Master Jia Ye!” A familiar voice echoed from behind him. The Masked Man appeared before Jia Ye with an imposing air. “Jia Ye, you finally admit your error! Do you not find yourself utterly incompetent?”

“You… who are you?” Jia Ye attempted to raise his sword but found his strength utterly drained. Yan Shangcheng’s blow had struck a vital spot, inflicting agonizing pain. “Who are you, appearing here behind a mask!”

The Masked Man threw his head back and laughed triumphantly. “Even the Heavenly Chasm sword has been severed! By what right can you still call yourself a swordsman? Do you still deserve to be the Great Sect Master of all Barren Bone City?”

“This voice, this…” Jia Ye’s heart sank; he seemed to grasp the identity of the speaker. A wave of bitterness washed over him. “Speak! Who exactly are you!”

“Very well! Today, I will ensure your utter defeat, and I will never have to wear this hideous demon mask again!” The Masked Man slowly lifted his mask, revealing a face brimming with tyrannical maturity before Jia Ye, robbing him of the very will to remain standing.

“Second Brother! Jianan… you are the Masked Man.” Jia Ye could never have imagined his own second brother would be the one intercepting him now, yet he struggled to believe it. “You, weren’t you supposed to be fighting the main force of the Fierce Beasts Sect? How did you end up here!”

“Hahahaha, you still don’t understand?” Jianan stepped forward, gritting his teeth. “Your current predicament is entirely my design. I have waited for this day for far too long.”

“You…” Jia Ye asked no further questions. Jianan’s tone and actions confirmed all his previous fears—Jianan was inherently overbearing and could never truly be subservient; it had all been an act.

“Today, I will make sure you die understanding everything.” Jianan drew the Earth Fiend sword hidden behind him and began to detail his entire scheme to Jia Ye. “Years ago, I urged you to wage war and eliminate the other sect masters, but you showed womanly compassion and merely issued some decree. What good are those decrees? In the end, they even forced the entire Yan family to betray you! Since you couldn’t do it, I should. Once you are dead, I can take your place. Then, leading the Bone Sect armies, I can truly conquer the Unfettered Realm by force. Shouldn’t this be something to rejoice about?”

“Unifying the Unfettered Realm cannot rely solely on brute force!” Jia Ye felt the hostility emanating from Jianan. He understood that his second brother had always been that type of person; he had simply refused to believe that his own brother would seek to harm him.

“You still haven’t grasped it even now!” Jianan pointed his sword at Jia Ye. “For decades, the reason I saved the youngest son of the Yan family, Yan Shangcheng, was solely due to the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot hidden deep within him. I collaborated with the Beast Elder to nurture this pitiful creature consumed by slaughter and revenge. Today, you have witnessed what true power looks like. Only someone possessing this kind of power can unify the realm through might.”

“No, no! This is not power.” Jia Ye stepped closer to Jianan, glaring at him as he reprimanded him. “Your actions will only plunge the people of this realm back into ceaseless warfare, and you, Jianan, are merely being used by the Beast Elder. Look at what you gain today!”

“Gain what?” Jianan found the statement baffling. “I gain your position as Great Sect Master, and the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot.”

Jia Ye’s heart lurched; his entire being collapsed. “You want to transplant the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot? You intend to merge with Yan Shangcheng.”

“As expected of my elder brother; you even know what I’m thinking.” Jianan smiled, revealing a staggering secret. “Yan Shangcheng is nothing more than a host body for the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot. His ceaseless slaughter over the last decade has only been for the Pivot’s growth. Today’s battle caused the Pivot to fully awaken, and he has descended into madness. If I kill him and transplant the Pivot into my own body, I can borrow its power to unify the realm. Then, I will eradicate all other clans!”

“Hoo…” Jia Ye gasped, shaking his head, utterly unwilling to agree with Jianan’s course of action. “Third Brother mentioned that the Heavenly Bone Records state transplanting the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot only grants temporary control. Moreover, as its awakening level increases, you too will eventually descend into madness, and at that time, the Ancient God of War will descend and destroy everything here.”

“Do you think I lack the strength to resist the backlash of the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot?” Jianan no longer wished to explain himself to Jia Ye. He took a few steps back, assuming the sharp posture of the Heavenly Bone Sword Art. “One sword strike is all it takes to show you my true power. The Eighth Form of the Heavenly Bone Sword Art is not something only you can achieve.”

Jia Ye also raised his broken sword. The Heavenly Chasm sword shimmered with its final, golden radiance. “I will not let you succeed.”

The battle of brothers. The final strike. The same sword technique, yet wielded for vastly different causes. The same intent to kill echoing in all directions, yet aimed at two opposing extremes. No one else in the heavens or on the earth could penetrate this sharp, murderous realm. Just one strike. Just the flash of a sword light. Just the struggle for supremacy between Heavenly Chasm and Earth Fiend. A streak of blood slashed across the blade, and an emperor was struck down.

“Your age is over. The Bone Sect will forge a new myth under my leadership, Jianan.” Jianan turned his back and re-sheathed his sword. He did not look back, for he knew the past was gone forever; a new chapter was opening just for him.

Jia Ye, Lord of the Bone Sect, collapsed heavily to the ground. But at that moment, a wave of azure light suddenly emanated from his chest. The Soul Soldier Talisman, inlaid with intricate carvings, floated out along with the light. As the talisman spun, the agonized roar of a divine beast echoed out. It turned out Jia Ye had summoned the Ancient Divine Beast in his final moments, a sight that would foreshadow the fall of the Unfettered Realm.

“What! The Soul Soldier Talisman?” Jianan had never dreamed Jia Ye would do such a thing. In that instant, a blinding light shot toward the heavens. Beneath the enveloping cloud cover of the Nine Heavens, a strange, single-tailed dragon writhed back and forth. Its cry was shrill yet filled with excitement. “I didn’t expect you to summon the Soul Soldier Talisman even as you died! But as long as I possess the Savage Meridian Heavenly Pivot, what can an Ancient Divine Beast matter!”

The turmoil within Barren Bone City continued. The Fierce Beast Sect members, brutal and relentless, slaughtered nearly all the civilian Bone Sect populace, not forgetting to set massive fires once the killing ceased. The crackling flames danced through the city’s alleys, while a mournful wind howled past, seeming to weep, yet also carrying the deep emerald hue of the Myriad Poison Pearl.

“Ahwah…” Whether Fierce Beast Sect members or Bone Sect citizens, anyone caught in the emerald smoke found their flesh stripped away. Even the bones the Bone Sect prided themselves on turned charred black in the poisonous fog. The venom of the Myriad Poison Pearl was vile and vicious; no one escaped its effects.

“This is bad! Everyone, quickly retreat from Barren Bone City!” With his elder brother absent, Jialouluo bore the responsibility of command. Surveying the devastation where the poison mist passed, leaving nothing alive, he urgently led the remaining Bone Sect retainers in a breakout. “Soldiers, you must evade that poison mist at all costs!”

“Yes!” The Bone Sect soldiers moved as one, following Jialouluo in a desperate dash toward the city gates. The once prosperous Barren Bone City, ravaged by slaughter and poisonous fog, was reduced to ruins. Every resident who remained showed traces of sorrow and fury.

“Damn that Plague Imp Emperor!” The Beast Elder observed the battle from afar and recognized the potency of the poison mist. He ordered his subordinates, “Wave the banners and command a retreat!”

The Fierce Beast Sect members used their distinct retreat howl, and in an instant, those beasts still running rampant within the city turned tail and fled. However, they did not anticipate that near the city gates, the Demon Worm Sect members had already laid an ambush.

“Hurry back to Sky Cloud Machine to prepare for battle!” Elder Tian Yuan recognized the setup and ordered the Sun-Blind clan to withdraw. Suddenly, the entire Barren Ancient City became a dead city.

“Kill!” The Demon Worm Sect members had laid traps underground outside the city. The retreating Fierce Beast Sect members blundered directly into the snares. They struggled to break free only to be slaughtered by countless ant soldiers. “Kill these demon beasts, ha ha ha ha!”

“Aoww ahhh!” Among the Fierce Beasts were powerful cultivators. Consequently, these two factions carved out a new battlefield outside the city gates, fighting until one side perished.

The Beast Elder, being the most skilled in cultivation, flew directly onto Falling Tower Peak, wielding his iron staff. Seeing the poison mist still drifting toward Barren Bone City, he pushed his palms out in fury, managing to change the wind’s direction. “Plague Imp Emperor, you think you can reap the rewards easily by sitting back, do you?”

The guard soldiers who were struck by the poison mist also turned into black bones. The Plague Imp Emperor understood the Beast Elder’s intention and stepped forward with a grin. “Attacking Barren Bone City—surely my Demon Worm Sect deserves a share of the effort, right?”

“Attacking Barren Bone City?” The Beast Elder pointed toward the base of the peak, where the Fierce Beasts and Demon Worms fought in a frenzy of blood. “I suspect you’re aiming to steal the credit from my Fierce Beast Sect.”

The Plague Imp Emperor raised a finger, forming a beam of green light that shot toward the Beast Elder. The Beast Elder moved sluggishly but managed to parry the attack squarely with his staff. “I didn’t realize the Beast Elder was still so agile? The Fierce Beast Sect owes its success in raising countless corpse demons entirely to the Beast Elder’s cunning.”

“Enough talk. Today’s fight is about annihilating the Bone Sect. If the Imp Emperor insists on forcing the issue, I believe the Fierce Beast Sect will certainly not show weakness.” The Beast Elder swept his iron staff, sending a wave of wild sand surging forward, directly lifting the Myriad Poison Pearl and carrying it toward the Imp Emperor.

The Imp Emperor transformed his fingers into palms, holding the Myriad Poison Pearl aloft. At that moment, the Pearl released all its toxic mist, its entire body becoming noticeably clearer and rounder. “Beast Elder, are you pleading with me, or are you threatening me?”