A clamor rose from the Beastmen army; some former loyalists of Cang Shi had already dropped their weapons, triggering a sudden **. At that moment, a steady figure advanced, instantly quelling the chaos.

"I presume you are Ye Xiu, the victor of the First Martial Arts Tournament of the Three Swords," Elder Xie said, forcing himself forward to the front of the ranks, suppressing internal injuries. He glared fiercely at Cang Shi, who was pinned to the ground, "Useless thing. Our Beastmen race is being brought down by trash like you."

Ye Xiu saw his target appear and felt a surge of excitement; this was easier than expected. "This must be Elder Xie. I was just looking for you."

"And what business do you have with me?" Elder Xie had only heard rumors of Ye Xiu's strength, as he was the first to meet him, but anyone who could defeat Jian Hongchen could not be simple.

"Nothing much," Ye Xiu stretched languidly and turned with a smile. "I just want to kill you, Elder Xie. That's all."

"What!" Elder Xie's anger flared, his vital energy surging. He stabilized himself and sent a blast of green smoke toward Ye Xiu with a single open-palm strike.

"If Elder Xie is interested in a duel, I am willing to wager the Beastmen's Mad Sand Sword," Ye Xiu said, drawing Heng Chen and casually unleashing a wave of sword energy that utterly dissolved Elder Xie's attack.

"The Mad Sand Sword!" Elder Xie seemed to see a glimmer of hope again. If he possessed the power of the Mad Sand Sword, the Beastmen could unify the Three Swords territory.

Ye Xiu dismounted and glided between the two armies. He took the Mad Sand Sword from his back and held it up before Elder Xie. "If Elder Xie is interested, follow me. We can find a place to talk privately."

Elder Xie pondered for a moment, viewing Ye Xiu as merely a martial artist, willing to agree to anything for the sake of the Mad Sand Sword.

"Let's go," Ye Xiu sprang up and headed toward the banks of the Gloomy River. Just then, he heard Zuo Wencheng call out urgently from behind, "General Ye, how shall we deal with this Beastmen general?"

Ye Xiu looked down with disdain and drawled lazily, "Have you forgotten how the Beastmen massacred Myriad Sword City that day? Kill him outright. As for the soldiers, you handle them as you see fit."

Elder Xie exchanged a meaningful glance with his Beastmen officers. A clash between the two armies was now inevitable, even without a supreme commander present.

"Swish... swish..." Two figures descended onto the edge of the Gloomy River.

"Clang!" Without a second thought, Ye Xiu tossed the Mad Sand Sword onto the ground. Without true essence, the Mad Sand Sword was nothing more than scrap metal.

"Do you know the true might of this sword?" Elder Xie was highly displeased by Ye Xiu's actions. "The Mad Sand Sword can manifest any form; its blade is forged from quicksand, ever-changing, invincible under heaven."

"Ha! What use is all that talk? You saw the result of its power, however much it held," Ye Xiu continued to provoke Elder Xie, deliberately grinding his foot back and forth upon the Mad Sand Sword. "Seeing as you are just an old man, why don't you just end things yourself."

"Hmph, impudent brat!" Elder Xie could not withstand the provocation and sent two palm strikes flying toward Ye Xiu. Ye Xiu sighed and easily dodged them with a slight hop. Elder Xie’s two strikes were merely a feint; his body was already low to the ground, and immediately following the strikes, he lunged at Ye Xiu. A palm shot forward, unexpectedly carrying the ancient, venomous taint of the Profound Orb. Sensing danger, Ye Xiu quickly used Heng Chen to parry, forcing Elder Xie back a step. Then, Ye Xiu shifted his sword into a palm strike himself and heavily struck Elder Xie.

"Ah-ooh!" Unexpectedly, the blow landed, but since Ye Xiu had never practiced any martial art involving internal palm force, his strike landed on Elder Xie's chest, resulting in an awkward moment for both.

"It seems your palm strength is limited, boy," Elder Xie almost laughed. "That strike of yours was just a single blow, utterly without force. I didn't even feel any pain."

Ye Xiu had merely been playing with Elder Xie; he hadn't intended to engage in a true palm confrontation. However, since the blow had landed, he couldn't simply stop there. Ye Xiu instantly dropped all pretense. With a surge of anger, he activated his Severing Meridian, and a black stream of energy shot from his core, spreading throughout his body before finally gathering in his palm.

With a "Boom-clang," Elder Xie was blasted back dozens of steps, his chest a ruin of flesh and blood.

"What is this?" Elder Xie clutched his chest and collapsed to his knees. "This sensation... it's the same as the feeling from Dugu Bingchen. Could it be..."

"Oh, it seems Elder Xie recognizes this," Ye Xiu said, levitating the Heng Chen sword with the energy of the Severing Meridian while he slowly advanced toward the fallen elder. "Elder Xie is one of the most senior figures in the Three Swords territory. Surely you've heard of the Severing Meridian?"

"The Severing Meridian? You possess the Severing Meridian!" Elder Xie spat a mouthful of blood, unable to believe the reality. "Just as the ancient texts stated: the Raging and Severing Meridians are mutually destructive. Now that the Raging Meridian has manifested, has the Severing Meridian emerged as well?"

Ye Xiu himself didn't know why the Severing Meridian within him was so active—perhaps the sword energy above Myriad Sword City had triggered it. Still, he certainly enjoyed this excessive power. "Since Elder Xie knows of the Severing Meridian, you must have seen this sword before."

Elder Xie lay sprawled on the ground, looking up at the sky. The Heng Chen sword seemed to be looking down upon him as well. "The three-clan pattern on the blade... this sword..."

"Forged by Bing Ao, the foremost smith of the Three Swords," Ye Xiu added, continuing his slow approach toward Elder Xie. "Do you know why the Beastmen's Mad Sand Sword could never unleash its true power? Because it had not yet found its true master."

"You... who exactly are you!" Elder Xie began to feel the true terror of the man before him—Ye Xiu, who possessed the Severing Meridian and knew so much of the mysterious history of the Three Swords.

Ye Xiu had hoped to extract more secrets from Elder Xie, but the old man knew surprisingly little, even about the elder Bing Ao forging swords. Ye Xiu soon lost interest. "Who I am is irrelevant. Today, I intend to test my sword upon you."

Elder Xie struggled to stand, relying on his residual strength. In terms of internal force, he was among the top tier of the Three Swords, but Ye Xiu's single palm strike had already shattered his meridians. He was now utterly defenseless.

"Go, this move is called Myriad Swords Overwhelming the City. A rather low-grade technique," Ye Xiu said helplessly, spreading his hands. Following this utterance, the Heng Chen sword suspended in the air spontaneously flashed with black light and thrust its edge outward, exploding against Elder Xie’s body.

"Ah!" Elder Xie’s arms were severed by the sword energy, spurting twin streams of blood as he shrieked in agony.

Ye Xiu was loyal to his friends, but against such wickedness, he transformed. He walked to Elder Xie’s side, used a single hand to draw the Mad Sand Sword back from the ground, and grasped it. "Elder Xie always desired this Mad Sand Sword, didn't he? Today, I shall grant your wish."

"Hoo... hoo..." Elder Xie gasped raggedly on the ground. At that moment, the sounds of fighting between the two armies echoed from the forest. This was war—a constant cycle of life and death—and now his own fate rested in another's hands. The revered Elder Xie of the Beastmen race was about to meet a tragic end by the blade of another.

"That's enough," Ye Xiu said no more. He reversed his grip on the Mad Sand Sword and plunged it fiercely into Elder Xie's chest. There was no pity in that moment; the crimson light seemed insignificant beneath the shadow of the Severing Meridian's deep darkness. Ye Xiu felt the Mad Sand Sword vibrating—it was about to reappear in the world.

A glimmer of light slowly emerged from Elder Xie's corpse, enveloping the Mad Sand Sword. The vibration frequency of the sword increased rapidly. Ye Xiu gripped it tightly, yet felt as though he could barely hold on. In a flash of lightning, the blade of the Mad Sand Sword began to peel away, fragmenting like sand until it vanished into the breeze—from the blade to the hilt, everything slipped through Ye Xiu's grasp.

"This is the true form of the Mad Sand Sword," Ye Xiu stared at his palm in bewilderment. The Mad Sand Sword was gone, and the Heng Chen sword hovering overhead suddenly shone with dazzling light. Ye Xiu stared at it and sucked it into his hand, discovering that the Heng Chen blade was now encased in a thin layer of sand. The previously dim beast pattern had suddenly become vivid.

"Hahahaha!" Ye Xiu couldn't help but laugh aloud as he swung the Heng Chen. This sword had now fully absorbed the power of the raging winds and the mystery of the sands. Accompanied by the wind and grit, the sword flickered in and out of sight, having lost its fundamental shape. Ye Xiu waved the sword horizontally to cut nearby trees. Unexpectedly, as the blade neared the wood, the trees began to slide away like grains of sand. When Ye Xiu's body and the hilt passed through, a fierce gust of wind mixed with flying sand swept the entire row of trees into dust. "This is just a normal strike, yet it achieves this effect." Ye Xiu could not conceal his excitement, raising the sword again with a triumphant smile.

At that moment, a powerful current of air plummeted rapidly toward the banks of the Gloomy River. The Myriad Sword Dark Tiger arrived, drawn by the intense aura of slaughter.

"It is the City Lord," Ye Xiu thought, feeling a stirring within his Severing Meridian. Could the Myriad Sword Dark Tiger be the possessor of the Raging Meridian?

The Dark Tiger hesitated slightly. Ever since unleashing the power of the Raging Meridian on the tower of Myriad Sword City, he had vaguely felt another force contending with him. After searching tirelessly, he found the source here by the Gloomy River. He asked Ye Xiu, "The human army is currently engaged with our Beastmen army. As General Ye, why are you here alone?"

Ye Xiu struggled to suppress the surging energy of the Severing Meridian and pointed to Elder Xie's corpse on the ground. "Reporting to the City Lord, I have already executed the Beastmen Elder Xie."