That vast expanse of splendor erupted violently within a hundred zhang, instantly arriving before the few figures. As they drew near, it became clear they were ruthlessly sharp, extremely fine silver iron spikes. They shot forth like a torrential downpour. Only three inches long, yet each one struck with the force of a crossbow bolt fired by a Black Tortoise Grandmaster; the sheer spiritual energy emanating from the tips alone promised to pierce anything.

Several more figures followed close behind. Moving like shadows, they sped along not far behind the barrage of spikes. Their speed was equally swift, and chilling gazes pierced through the curtain of metal. Astonishingly, every single one of them was a Black Tortoise Grandmaster!

This ambush was utterly sudden. Shi Dan was the first to react, immediately flicking her sleeve slightly and emitting a soft hum: "Spirit Art, Wind Vortex!"

Instantly, a vortex of wind power exploded ten zhang in front of them. Gales churned, and although they didn't sweep the iron spikes away entirely, they forced their momentum to stall, causing their trajectories to become slightly scattered and deviate sideways.

Shi Dan immediately formed another hand seal and recited another spiritual incantation: "Guard Sword Servants, Coalesce Sword!"

A mass of green mist materialized before her, quickly gathering form. It became almost lifelike, holding a sword forged from coalesced soul power. Its gaze was vacant, yet brimming with fierce resolution. Its aura was no less than Tan Tao's. As Shi Dan executed her spirit art, countless Metallic Geng spiritual essences gathered upon that soul-sword, almost visibly manifesting substance.

When the sword finally turned completely golden, it unleashed a blinding golden light that repelled every incoming iron spike.

The next to react was Li Luo. He kept his body low, completely unconcerned with the silver spikes. Like a leopard, he dashed through the screen of projectiles. In his hands, one long and one short blade each trailed a sharp blade-qi, carving brilliant arcs, furiously slashing out like a tempest. The very first strike caused one of the attackers to spray blood.

Those attackers were clearly taken aback, letting out surprised gasps, but they did not linger to fight. They left only two behind to entangle Li Luo. The remaining four bypassed him entirely, continuing their relentless charge toward where Zong Shou stood.

Shi Dan frowned; at this moment, she could not unleash any truly powerful spirit art. She waved her sleeve again, summoning another soul beast, coalesced to the sixth rank. Over ten zhang tall, its form resembled a porcupine, covered in scales and sharp quills, yet possessing the agility of a spirit leopard. It charged directly at one of the assailants.

The last to react were Hu Zhongyuan and Tan Tao. The former’s expression was grim; his crossed mandarin-duck blades formed a defensive barrier before him, resisting the fierce wind of the oncoming assault.

Although the remaining three attackers had not yet arrived, the shockwaves generated by Li Luo and the other two Black Tortoise Grandmasters fighting had already reached this far. In this brief moment, the relatively flat, rocky mountainside where they stood had been gouged with countless pits by the sword-qi and blade-light, showing incipient signs of collapse. This infused the space within ten thousand zhang with dust and turbulent winds. A beginner innate martial master at the initial stage of the Earth Wheel Meridian typically possessed about thirty thousand jin of strength. At the third stage of the Earth Wheel Meridian, this could increase to ninety thousand jin. A Martial Ancestor expert at the fourth stage of the Earth Wheel Meridian saw a threefold increase, reaching three hundred thousand jin. And a Black Tortoise Grandmaster at the seventh stage of the Earth Wheel Meridian possessed three million jin of power, enough to shake mountains and stir seas!

Hu Zhongyuan's eyes narrowed; he seemed to know he could not match any one of them in a direct fight. Yet, instead of retreating, he advanced. He unleashed the same move, Tiger Roar in Eight Directions, sweeping out recklessly before him.

With a heavy clang, this full-power strike actually forced one of the attackers back dozens of zhang.

But the other two did not pause for even a moment. They utterly disregarded the now-weakened Hu Zhongyuan and continued their rapid forward rush. Two immensely powerful martial intents pressed down fiercely.

Tan Tao’s face was slick with cold sweat. Only when these two Black Tortoise Grandmasters approached within ten zhang did he finally erupt under that overwhelming pressure. With a muffled grunt, the black and white mandarin-duck blades in his hands both projected their energies hundreds of zhang out before rapidly retracting. They were only about twenty zhang long now, but they were far more concentrated and razor-sharp, as if the blades in his hands had instantly expanded several dozen times. They resembled two fans of light, enveloping the thirty zhang of space before him.

This was not just his full strength; this display of blade shadows was the most perfect strike he had ever executed in his life!

First came a series of clinking and clanking sounds as the iron spikes were batted away. Then, the shadows clashed fiercely with the blade-light and sword-light of the two Black Tortoise Grandmasters. In mere moments, countless exchanges occurred. One of them suddenly spat blood and retreated violently. However, Tan Tao’s entire body was forced downward by the crushing strength, sinking almost entirely into the stone from the waist down.

A figure swept past from above like a gust of wind. Before him, only Zong Shou remained, standing alone on the stone platform ten zhang away. Yet, a fifth-rank soul beast, resembling a fractured-peak bear, had materialized before him.

The Black Tortoise Grandmaster’s eyes first showed a flicker of confusion. The Zong Shou rumored to be completely useless without spirit arts—yet he had just witnessed him summon a guardian. Then, he dismissed it; so what if he knew spirit arts? He would still die under his sword.

As this attacker stared intently at Zong Shou, Zong Shou was also watching him. He appeared to be around forty, with a square face. His aura suggested he was at the peak of the seventh stage of the Earth Wheel Meridian, about to break through. His gaze was filled with the elation of imminent success, mixed with vicious killing intent and the calm confidence of one assured of victory.

Zong Shou narrowed his eyes, then offered a helpless smile. A ball of silver light sank from his sleeve toward his waist. Hanging there were two swords: one was the Thunderwing Sword gifted by Duanmu Yiren, and the other was the broken Nine Qilin.

Almost in an instant, Xiao Jin’s body merged with the Nine Qilin Sword. Simultaneously, a dark soul essence rose behind Zong Shou, carrying the Nine Qilin Sword—now glowing spiritually and shifting to a golden hue—into the air. The 'Void Spirit Primordial Sword' hidden within his true soul was also struck into the blade. With a flash of golden light, just as the moment was about to pass, it struck the middle-aged man before him.

The next instant, a cry of alarm echoed from Shi Dan some distance away: "Daytime Soul Ejection?" Shi Dan's eyes widened in horror. With the soul power of the Night Roaming Realm, he had actually ejected his soul in the evening light without being incinerated by the True Solar Fire. How had this young lord accomplished this?

Then, wave after wave of astonishment rose within her heart.

"This is a seventh-rank spirit artifact! No, an eighth-rank! And there's a second primordial spirit, a Void Spirit Sword Embryo!"

The latter thoughts were merely mental exclamations, too fast to voice. The scene before her, however, caused the pupils in her eyes to dilate to their absolute limit.

The Black Tortoise Grandmaster approaching Zong Shou had initially paid no attention to the sword shadow above, fixing his gaze with sharp intent on Zong Shou's neck.

No matter what complex tricks he employed, all it took was severing this man's head, and everything would end. Below the Day Roaming Realm, no matter how powerful a spirit master, without a physical body, he was merely dead.

But when the golden sword light descended upon him with several times his own speed, at an extraordinarily esoteric angle, shifting unpredictably, his gaze instantly locked down. Without hesitation, he retreated violently backward.

In that split second, he felt this sword to be exceptionally ferocious and unnervingly sharp! He feared that before he could even lop off Zong Shou's head, his own body would be sliced into fragments.

His mind was a storm of flashing thoughts. Why could this Zong Shou eject his soul in daylight? Why was his swordsmanship so exquisite? Where did an eighth-rank spirit artifact come from? The Void Spirit Forging Technique clearly belonged to the sword cultivator path. Which idiot had called this man a failure in both spirit and martial arts? It was simply... infuriating! He frantically retreated into the distance, abandoning all thought of assassination in that moment. Yet, in the very next breath, he perceived something different about the sword shadow wrapped around the nine-headed Qilin before his eyes.

At that very moment, Zong Shou's true soul was indeed undergoing a transformation. A dark Night-Blooming Cereus was unfurling.

This instantly caused his Sea of Souls to churn, violently expanding by nearly twenty percent. The golden sword shadow flickered once, then slipped into the sword light before him, severing the forty-year-old man’s head with a single clean cut!

"Heaven Swallowing Primordial Transformation, Strike Again!"

The soaring Nine Qilin Sword offered no delay; it absorbed a mere fraction of the man’s vital essence to resist the sunlight. Then, it spun again, striking the next Black Tortoise Grandmaster beside him.

This man also began frantically dodging immediately. The blade in his hand surged with blade-qi, waving it constantly before him, but it had absolutely no effect. The Nine Qilin Sword effortlessly closed the distance.

Finally, with despair flashing in his eyes, he let out a sudden roar: "Retreat! Retreat quickly, this man... is a Night Roaming Sword Controller, his sword-dao has attained sentience! Damn his ancestors!"

He didn't manage to utter the final curse. The golden sword light pierced through his left chest, directly piercing his heart. Absorbing a surge of the most concentrated essence, it shot clean through.

By now, the expressions of the remaining four attackers had shifted subtly. With barely a moment's hesitation, they began to flee and withdraw.

Li Luo, however, let out a cold chuckle. His body bent impossibly low, then snapped forward like a spring. His form flickered, and he decapitated one of the fleeing figures.

Tan Tao, without hesitation, also lunged out, pinning down the Black Tortoise Grandmaster who had been repelled by Hu Zhongyuan.

Zong Shou's sword soared into the air again. With the swiftness of a phoenix, it reached a hundred zhang away in a fraction of an instant. The blade twisted, and another head was severed. However, by this point, Zong Shou's reserves were nearly depleted. The Cereus flower that had bloomed in his true soul was slowly wilting and closing. He was unwilling to use his other two dark Cereus flowers here. Sensing with his spiritual thought that the battle no longer required his intervention, he decisively guided the sword back into his body.

Indeed, just as he opened his eyes again, Li Luo had already caught up to another attacker. Though still locked in combat, Li Luo held an overwhelming advantage, and a cruel smile touched the corners of his lips. Tan Tao’s opponent fared even worse; under the combined efforts of Shi Dan’s two soul beasts and Tan Tao, he lasted less than half a ke before his head was taken. Hu Zhongyuan, who had watched from behind, stood agape, his mouth wide in sheer disbelief.