The myriad Great Daos are divided by primary and secondary ranks, higher and lower. Since the Five Elements derive from Yin and Yang, the Dao of Yin and Yang stands above the Five Elements.
And since all Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements are born from the Beginning and end in the End, all methods related to Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements are suppressed by the Boundless Divine Law of Beginning and End. The priority order is set, almost insurmountable.
However, the Floating Spirit Divine Sword of the Sword Sect can invert this order. It places the Boundless Divine Law of Beginning and End, which the Sect Master upholds, beneath Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements, causing it to be suppressed by the arts of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements instead.
A simpler explanation: according to the inherent laws of heaven and earth, an iron sword should naturally defeat a wooden sword. But after the Floating Law Divine Art inverts the rules, the wooden sword can overcome the iron sword.
This is the inversion and displacement wrought by the Floating Law Divine Art. Thus, while this sword divine ability does not approach the fundamental Dao Truths rooted in the origins of heaven and earth, it still possesses boundless divine might!
It shares a subtle connection with the Twelve Bronze Men Suppressing the Nation of Great Qin. And so it was now, that all the Great Daos involved in the Sword Formation of the Common People were elevated and enhanced.
Meanwhile, the various True Laws involved in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Bloodline Spirit Slaughtering Array were lowered in rank and tier. This caused the Sword Formation of the Common People, which was originally slightly inferior, to gain the upper hand and suppress the latter.
This, in turn, caused the pressure facing Zong Shou to suddenly abate. The Sword Formation of the Common People could command the might of heaven and earth and the Tribulation Force of the Great Dao.
But now, with the Spirit Refining Sword as the main sword and Wei Xu suppressing the field, the power of the sword formation was already greater than during the battle at the Heaven Realm of the Common People. Swept up and scoured by that vast sword energy of the Common People, no matter how Li Bie Xue wove and repaired the bloody clouds in the sky, they would be torn apart and shattered.
This prevented the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Bloodline Spirit Slaughtering Array from ever becoming complete, allowing Zong Shou to stride forward once more, breaking free from the danger of dim-witted confusion. "After the Floating Law Divine Art, the next move must be Heaven's End and Earth's Destruction—" The thought barely crossed Zong Shou's mind when millions of streaks of sword light descended simultaneously from the horizon.
A set of Floating Spirit Sword Formations, besides the divine weapon 'Floating Spirit' as the main sword, required the support of six Saint-tier cultivators to sit in position, twenty-four Divine Realm cultivators to anchor it, and over a thousand sword users of the Spirit Realm and below. Now, that menacing sword light descending from the heavens seemed capable of executing even the firmament and the earth itself!
Their aura was fiercely sharp and unparalleled; as they plunged into the Feng Hua Palace, kicking up clouds of dust and debris, the defensive formations within the palace visibly shuddered, on the verge of collapse. Zong Shou looked up towards the ninety-nine-storied Star Gazing Pagoda.
His World-Burning Blood Eyes could already pierce through the layers of restrictive magic, discerning Li Bie Xue's silhouette. The Supreme Primordial Demon, too, showed a slight frown, appearing to be struggling somewhat.
To resist the two top-tier killing arrays of the Cloud Realm with the power of a single Yin Vein Spirit Slaughtering Array, even the third-ranked expert beneath the guise of Mercy of the Elegant Monastery was finding it hard to hold on. Zong Shou glanced, then withdrew his gaze.
He knew that these two sword arrays alone were insufficient to harm Li Bie Xue. He immediately shifted his sight back towards the direction of the Imperial Study.
His divine sense locked on, his blood eyes piercing through the dense obstacles, staring directly at Yin Yu. "Yin Yu, if you are willing to commit suicide today, issue an Edict of Self-Condemnation, explain the truth to the world, clear the infamous name of my friend Bu Hui, and return his corpse—then I shall spare your Yin Clan descendants and the lives of your many palace consorts.
Otherwise—" Zong Shou paused, and although the latter part of his tone remained placid, it was steeped in murderous intent. "Your entire clan will be annihilated, ensuring that the bloodline of your Yin Clan becomes extinct in this domain!
I have said my piece. When you die, do not claim I did not warn you in advance!" Jin Bu Hui cared little for his posthumous reputation, but Zong Shou could not ignore it.
How could he allow his closest friend to carry the name of a traitor, absorbing the malevolent hatred of hundreds of millions, and be reincarnated unclearly? For this cause, he could even accept forfeiting the opportunity to destroy the nation and allow the Imperial Throne of Great Shang to continue surviving precariously.
In the Imperial Study, Yin Yu found this utterly amusing: suicide? An Edict of Self-Condemnation?
The annihilation of his clan? Was Zong Shou speaking to him?
Or had he truly gone mad? "Insolent child, have you lost your mind?
By what virtue or power do you dare force me to self-immolate?" Thinking this, he spoke aloud, a hint of mockery entering his voice: "Jin Bu Hui was my subject, yet he colluded with a monarch of an enemy nation. Is that not fact?
His harboring of resentment was not wrong." He continued: "In truth, an Edict of Self-Condemnation is not out of the question! Only if you, Zong Shou, execute yourself before me.
Never mind clearing Jin Bu Hui's posthumous name—I would even elevate him to the Confucian Temple! As for his corpse, have you not heard?
It was consumed by a thousand men, demonstrating how deeply my subjects hated him." Zong Shou was momentarily stunned, then instead of anger, a laugh escaped him. The resentment and blockage in his chest felt like stones, difficult to vent.
He felt only nausea, his vital energy churning. Since it was so, there was nothing more to say—only to fight!
His emotions surged, unable to settle. The Heavenly Dao sword intent on the Spirit Refining Sword was affected by this, gradually turning violent!
More surrounding structures were razed to the ground. The earth collapsed, sinking hundreds of feet deep, yet Zong Shou was completely oblivious.
"I truly cannot fathom how people like you are still hailed as Sage Monarchs. Are the so-called Great Confucians of the Confucian School all blind?
For Bu Hui to have served a muddle-headed ruler like you was truly the greatest sorrow of his life." Yin Yu sat upright behind his imperial desk, smiling faintly, saying nothing. His emotions were calm; he listened as if to a joke, unconcerned.
No matter what Zong Shou said today, it could not harm him in the slightest; why should he care? In his eyes, although Zong Shou was not yet a dead man, the difference was negligible.
His lifelong honorable name was not for Zong Shou to judge! When Great Shang unified the Cloud Realm and swept across all domains, he, Yin Yu, was the peerless sovereign among twenty-seven monarchs reigning over a realm of eighteen hundred years.
Everyone, regardless of status, had to sing his praises! From the side came a sharp cold shout: "Insolent!
To utter slander against our Emperor within the Feng Hua Palace—this shows contempt for the people of Great Shang! Jin Bu Hui’s actions harmed the state; this is the consensus of our Confucian Sect, and it is not for a monarch of a barbarian state like you to twist the narrative!" Zong Shou looked over with cold eyes and recognized the speaker: Zuo Xin, Jin Bu Hui’s master.
The first time he left the Cloud Realm, he had met this man once, with Chong Xuan also present. Even then, Zong Shou held no good impression of him, and now he found him utterly repulsive!
Recalling that it was due to this man’s memorial that Zong Shou was nearly cut in half, Zong Shou wished he could slice this man into ten thousand pieces. As this man spoke, over ten Saint-tier auras remotely pierced through the sky, all poised and ready, locking onto Zong Shou's divine sense.
Zong Shou couldn't help but laugh wryly. A total of thirteen people, including the previous one, made fourteen.
In this battle today, there was one fewer Saint-realm cultivator than in the subterranean palace of the Qin Emperor’s Tomb. His consciousness continued to expand, turning his attention towards the twelve Suppressing the Nation Bronze Men standing behind the Imperial Study.
The Imperial Seal allowed his soul-sense tendrils to bypass the remnant divine sense imprints left by the True Spirit of the Qin Emperor, penetrating directly into the core origin of the Twelve Bronze Men. This was slightly different from his original expectation.
Yin Yu had clearly invested considerable effort into the origins of these bronze men, allowing his divine sense, mediated by the Qin Emperor's True Spirit, to delve deep within. Originally, only another eighty breaths of time would have been needed to completely supplant and purge the Qin Emperor's divine sense.
However, it now appeared that more time was required. He had truly underestimated this Yuan Chen Emperor— So, the task now was to continue stalling for time?
Zong Shou frowned, temporarily suppressing the violent murderous intent that clamored to be unleashed. He continued to tread the air, advancing toward the Imperial Study, a cold sneer curving his lips.
"I truly apologize! In my view, besides one Shi Yue and the Shi family, there is truly no one else in your Great Shang who merits my attention!
As for the Confucian School, I have said it before: sooner or later, all books will be burned and all scholars executed, burying the venomous and false Confucians of this world! Since your so-called consensus of Great Confucian truth cannot uphold what is just, what purpose is there in keeping you?" As he spoke, the last palace wall shattered under the pressure of Zong Shou’s sword.
Now, Zong Shou and the distant Imperial Study had no further obstacles between them, separated by only a thousand feet. And the Twelve Suppressing the Nation Bronze Men finally stood fully revealed in Zong Shou's sight.
At that moment, a cold snort echoed from the mid-air above. "Burning books and burying scholars?
Do you not know if I, Zhu Xi, am among those you would burn and bury? You claim Great Shang has no capable men; does that mean in your eyes, this old man is also mere dust and insects?" As these words echoed, a column of soaring white energy abruptly blasted straight into the heavens from the eastern direction.
This caused the more than twelve hundred streaks of Heaven's End and Earth's Destruction sword light in the firmament to scatter. Following closely, more and more white energy surged from within the Imperial Capital into the high clouds.
Varying in size and location—from the Imperial Academy, the Hanlin Academy, the Censorate— There were tens of thousands of them, their auras magnificent and overwhelming. "Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Kin, Teacher!
A sovereign should act as a sovereign, and a subject as a subject—this is the ultimate principle of heaven and earth! Jin Bu Hui’s actions lacked the proper conduct of a subject and deserved to be cut in half!" Zhu Xi’s voice reverberated through the sky, grand and majestic.
Inside the Imperial Study, Zuo Xin’s eyes instantly lit up, and he smiled at Yin Yu: "It is Master Zhu who has acted! Worthy of being called a Saint of our Confucian School; this Vast Righteousness truly makes us juniors pale in comparison.
As the old saying goes, evil cannot triumph over good, and today must be the same! With the Sage Venerable Master Zhu present, the myriad evils shall surely be repelled!
And the Demon Lord executed!" On Zong Shou's face, a trace of strain now appeared. The Floating Spirit Sword Formation of the Sword Sect, Heaven's End and Earth's Destruction, was shaken by Master Zhu, and his own Yin Vein Spirit Slaughtering Array bore the brunt of the impact.
The killing power of the array intensified, and the Spirit Slaughtering Divine Light and the power of the Death Flames assaulted his mind. At this precise moment, the dozen or so Saints scattered in the surrounding void finally made their move.
Their initial attacks were cataclysmic; more than ten extremely dangerous, formidable forces pressed down from all directions, overwhelming him. In that instant, Zong Shou was driven to the brink of despair.
His primordial spirit was utterly suppressed by the Spirit Slaughtering Divine Light and the Yin Vein Death Flames, while the combined efforts of the dozen Saints almost sealed off his vital path. Zong Shou’s intent struggled, yet his face wore an expression of deranged laughter.
"What a fine saying—to repel the myriad evils and execute the Demon Lord! Have you never heard that if the Dao is one foot high, the Demon is ten feet tall?" Chong Xuan adjusted the Dharma Wings for enhancement, and the first Life-Death Nether Flower bloomed.
A massive surge of vital energy erupted, temporarily neutralizing the death qi that could not be converted, and forcing the Spirit Slaughtering Divine Light out of his soul sea for a moment. Next, the Death-Announcing Sword of the Styx was activated, and Zong Shou's figure nearly became ethereal, drifting in the air.