"I originally intended to tell Daoist Qingxuan that he was dreaming, but after careful consideration, I decided to keep my words short. An agreement is not impossible, but Daoist, you must give me a reason—if I have the chance today to keep three or five of your number here, why should my Xiuguan let you go?"

The atmosphere above the entire Thirty-First Heaven Realm was pressed to the extreme.

Everyone remained silent, uttering no sound, their expressions utterly grim.

This quiet was finally broken by two muffled thuds in succession. It was Kunming, who finally could not withstand the crushing might of heaven and earth, plummeting violently from the Thirty-First Heaven.

Closely following him was Dong Zhongshu, also unable to hold on any longer, being forced down again by the overwhelming pressure to the Twenty-Eighth Heaven Realm.

"Keep three or five of us? Since when did Brother Xiuguan pick up this habit of speaking so boastfully?"

Qingxuan finally spoke, his demeanor calm and self-possessed: "Whether your nephew can truly master the Spirit Refining state is still debatable. Even if he truly becomes the Sword Master of the Spirit Refining artifact, if we fight with our lives, it will still be a mutual destruction—"

Before his words finished, a light chuckle echoed from not far away, a sound like silver bells but laced with chilling mockery: "Fight with your lives? Mutual destruction? That remains to be seen after the battle. If I can keep Daoist Qingxuan here, then even if my Cangsheng Qiong Realm is destroyed today, I would be completely content."

Qingxuan's eyes sharpened, and he glanced sideways, spotting Lin Yuanjing, the Loose Immortal Yuanjing.

With a new nexus point established, this woman also stepped out of the illusory golden pagoda, her eyes now blazing with murderous intent as she stared coldly back.

Not only was he unable to offer a rebuttal, but he bore the ancient grudge of Xi Zi's ambush years ago, and the fresh enmity from two assaults on the Cangsheng Qiong Realm.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire Cangsheng Dao now hated him to the core.

If there was a chance to kill and seal Qingxuan, more than half of the Cangsheng Dao would willingly pay any price.

If they were to fight to the death, the first to perish would likely be the head of the Dao Gate himself.

Seeing Dao Lord Qingxuan fall silent, Yuanjing let out a scornful sneer before turning her gaze to the others.

"Didn't you claim that after today, the histories of the Cloud Realm would record that there is no longer a Cangsheng Dao, no Xi Zi, and no Xiuguan? Why the silence now?"

Her words hung in the air, and no one responded. Yuanjing continued to sneer relentlessly, feeling an unprecedented sense of relief welling in her chest.

Previously, being jointly suppressed by these Supremes had brought them to the very brink of sect annihilation, and the suppressed anger and hatred in her heart had reached its peak.

She was never a broad-minded woman, not the type of gentle lady from a prominent family. She was petty and repaid every slight tenfold. Even after achieving the Supreme realm, this nature had not changed much.

Now that she had the opportunity, she naturally had to vent fiercely. Moreover, more than half of the people before her were mortal enemies of the Cangsheng Dao!

"And what about someone else? Didn't you say today you were going to shatter my senior brother Yuanhun’s soul and seal him? Why are you silent too?"

The face of the Great Origin Demon Lord turned purple, but he could not muster a retort, finally letting out a cold snort: "Sharp-tongued!"

A full sixty breaths had passed, yet no further change occurred on the eighteen layers of the purple-gold pagoda.

Xing Xie and Kunming’s minds suddenly relaxed. If that 'Tan Qiu' could only manage this much today, then at worst, they would only suffer some injuries and still manage to retreat whole.

Layman Yuanjiang, whose cultivation was only slightly below that of the Great Origin, suddenly brightened, shaking his head with a mocking curl of his lips: "Your Cangsheng Dao is perhaps hoping too high. He cannot yet wield that sword. Perhaps in a few decades or a century, your disciple might truly master this Spirit Refining artifact."

Zhu Zi also stared intently, stroking the beard beneath his chin, deep in thought: "It seems it requires the Qi of the Kingly Way to temper the sword body—"

Qingxuan’s expression returned to calm; he smiled but said nothing.

He could also see that the sword required not just the Qi of the Kingly Way, but an immense quantity of it.

In the Cloud Realm, those who could meet the requirement, besides the Great Merchant Emperor, were likely only the two who had already carved out dozens of worlds in the outer domains—

Yet, inexplicably, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, causing Qingxuan’s brow to furrow deeply once more. He had a nagging feeling that he had overlooked something.

He looked ahead again: Xiuguan stood with his hands behind his back, his killing intent still condensed and unwavering. His aura, however, was even more terrifying; he had clearly been gathering power for a long time, awaiting the moment of eruption.

And Loose Immortal Yuanjing had also fallen silent. Silver needles floated out from her sleeves, scattering and swirling.

Her entire person seemed like a tightly drawn bowstring, equally poised for action.

The other two, Long Ying and Lin Xuanshuang, were in a similar state.

They seemed to be waiting for the moment when an all-out offensive could be launched.

Amidst his rising unease, Qingxuan felt even more bewildered, unsure where the confidence of these individuals stemmed from.

Just as all eyes and divine senses in the Qiong Realm converged upon him, Zong Shou was gazing at the sword in his hand, caught in indecision.

Zhu Zi could sense that the Soul Refining Sword required the Qi of the Kingly Way to temper it before the final seal could be broken. As half the owner of this sword, he could naturally perceive this too.

—If he truly did this, then Tan Qiu's identity would be completely exposed.

And Zong Shou himself would thereafter be inextricably linked with the Cangsheng Dao.

The nameless Sword Spirit, which had returned to the Spirit Refining Sword, was now continuously urging him on.

Zong Shou pondered carefully for a moment, then sighed inwardly.

At this juncture, there was truly no need to hide his identity, nor did he wish to see his elders disappointed at this moment.

More importantly, Zong Shou absolutely did not want to let go of this chance to strike down several great enemy Supremes.

If he missed today, he and the Cangsheng Dao would have to pay an unknowable price to fell and seal those individuals.

If a Supreme remains alive, having even one as an enemy is enough to ruin one's peace of mind, let alone nine of them?

Hesitating no longer, Zong Shou’s divine sense instantly spanned across millions of miles of void, connecting with the Abi Throne. It then spread out more frantically towards the direction of the Heavenly Square World, summoning countless strands of Kingly Qi to gather here.

His second nascent soul was already forcefully channeling the immense 'Kingly Qi' into the sword body.

Instantly, the golden pagoda shook violently once more, and Zong Shou's hand gripping the sword tightened slightly.

"Zong Shou, today, as the Sovereign of the Great Qian Nation, I vow that I shall use this sword to protect the people of the Cloud Realm from the suffering of enslavement by foreign races, and to prevent the recurrence of the calamities of ancient Yunhuang—"

Before the oath was even finished, streaks of golden-purple light pierced across the horizon, converging upon Zong Shou from all directions, pouring into the Spirit Refining Sword.

The body of the golden pagoda began to rise from the ground again.

Wielding the Spirit Refining Sword, Zong Shou immediately felt the change. His control over the entire Cangsheng Sword Array seemed to have become much more agile.

The heaven and earth might he summoned had not increased much, but it was far more controllable. If previously he could only barely guide and control fifty percent of it, now it had surged to about seventy percent, and it was still climbing.

With no time to spare for anything else, Zong Shou did not hesitate; he allocated the majority of his focus to reattempting to improve the structure of the Cangsheng Sword Array through the Spirit Refining artifact, harmonizing the auras of the seven Sword Masters and the abundant spiritual energy.

Then, he only felt the sword in his hand resonate again, its light blazing fiercely, vibrating in tandem with the other six artifacts.

"This is? Has it advanced?"

Zong Shou was momentarily stunned. After a full breath, he finally confirmed that the Spirit Refining Sword in his hand was ascending toward the level of a Divine Treasure.

It was not just his sword; the other six Cangsheng artifacts were doing the same!

However, the process for the Spirit Refining Sword was clearly much smoother than the other six, crossing this threshold easily and almost without obstruction.

The most immediate change was that the will of heaven and earth condensing in the air was expanding frantically.

Zong Shou immediately took a deep breath, confirming for the first time that the Spirit Refining Sword in his hand truly possessed the potential to advance to a Divine Artifact, rather than relying solely on the power of the spiritual array as it did now.

His heart grew steady, knowing that the Cangsheng Dao and he had already secured victory today!

His mind gradually returning to a state of cold focus, Zong Shou’s gaze began to sweep across the heavens.

Once this sword array is formed, the Three Sages of the Dao Gate must be slain first!

Meanwhile, beneath the Qiong Realm, the crowd erupted into an uproar once more.

"Zong Shou? He is Zong Shou, the Sovereign of the Great Qian Nation?"

"Isn't he Sword Emperor Tan Qiu?"

"Could it be that the Blood Sword Demon Lord, Sword Emperor Tan Qiu, is actually the same person?"

"Preposterous! The overlord of the southeastern Cloud Realm, the first heir of the Fu Kong Lu family, the Great Qian Immortal Lord who has conquered dozens of worlds in the outer domains—is actually a disciple of our Cangsheng Dao?"

"The celestial phenomenon responding to his oath... it's most likely true. Such things cannot be faked—"

"If it really is this person, then it is truly a blessing for our Cangsheng Dao. This Sovereign dominated the Cloud Realm a few years ago, unmatched in the world!"

"Hahaha! Our second-generation core disciple of the Cangsheng Dao is the Lord of the Qiantian Heaven, the overlord of the Southeast! An oath invoking celestial signs—this clearly shows that Heaven itself recognizes our Cangsheng philosophy of equality!"

The clamor was like thunder, but the few figures above the Thirtieth Heaven Realm fell into an absolute silence once more.

Everyone stopped speaking, merely glancing at each other, communicating only with their eyes.

Zhu Zi's expression was particularly grim, all traces of color draining from his face, his eyes flickering with unconcealed rage.

How could the Sovereign of the Great Qian Nation, Zong Shou, be him? This dissolute ruler not only acted tyrannically within his own nation but dared to commit such a colossal outrage, joining the Cangsheng Dao against the world's common sense? Was he not afraid of the scholars rebelling and him becoming the public enemy of all under heaven?

He yearned to speak, but choked the words back.

If the few present could join forces and fight desperately, there would still be a chance in this battle.

But looking at the expressions of those around him now, there was clearly not even a trace of will to fight left.

The next moment, Qingxuan suddenly spoke: "Fellow Daoists, there will be other days. You may withdraw!"

As these words left his mouth, Qingxuan’s figure was already the first to move away from his position, disappearing into a narrow rift in the void.

His departure was decisive, leaving no room for lingering.

The movements of the others were equally swift, all understanding the unspoken message. Should they wait until the seven artifacts truly united and advanced completely?

Zhu Zi let out a low sigh and followed closely behind. (To be continued. RS)