Chapter 1027: The Most Beautiful World

“Ahn—”

The resounding sword hum echoed for miles.

In the Yunlun Mountains, following Xiuyuan Ke's single sword strike, all the trial participants looked up in alarm, beholding the sword light that seemed to engulf the entire Sky City.

“This sword…”

In an instant, everyone was stunned, their minds seemingly swallowed whole.

What an astonishingly magnificent sword it was!

No one could find words to describe their feelings upon seeing it.

Yet, following their gaze along the sword light and sensing the earth-shattering power within, everyone felt their souls elevate, as if reaching paradise.

Some saw in this sword the pinnacle of spirit refining, envisioning themselves crowned and dominating the world.

Others saw in it the ultimate end of the sword path, picturing themselves alone and supreme, suppressing eternity.

Still others saw wine pools and meat forests, with countless scantily clad immortal songstresses holding cups in seductive poses, brimming with springtime allure…

“Hehehe, hehehe, hehehe…”

Throughout the Yunlun Mountains, foolish laughter rang out everywhere, as if everyone had attained their heart’s deepest desires.

After a moment of immersion, some began to awaken abruptly.

“Damn!”

“What did I just see?”

“How did I become a sword god? So the sword god is actually me? Am I the reincarnation of the sword god?”

Of course, others remained lost in their own worlds, unwilling to return.

“The peak of spirit refining—who stands there? One glimpse of this seat and the path is void!”

“Hehehe, hehehe… Little miss, where are you running? Come to me!”

At the Eighth Dragon Vein.

Su Qianqian and Gu Qing San stared blankly at the dazzling sword light, still immersed in their own worlds.

Amid the vast snow, holding the sword Mu Ming Cheng Xue, after slaying Ba Zun Ahn with one strike, Su Qianqian suddenly turned, only to see endless solitude.

“Grandfather, Father…

“I’ve avenged you both, but where are you…”

The vast road ahead showed no direction at all.

She had finally taken revenge, personally killing the one who had nearly wiped out the entire Su family.

Yet everything remained unchanged from before…

The young Su Qianqian hugged the massive snow-white great sword and crouched down, sobbing softly.

The scene shifted to a starry night, just before Su Qianqian was to be sent to Tian Sang Ling Gong for refuge.

“Grandfather, why do so many people want to seize our family’s sword? Why aren’t they afraid of death, even though they’re so weak…” The young Su Qianqian sat on the steps of the Su family courtyard, hugging her knees and gazing at the night sky, full of confusion.

Grandfather affectionately rubbed her head and smiled. “With hearts set on the great Dao, they pursue it naturally. Everyone has their own innermost ideal of beauty. They seek famed swords to reach the summit, and as a family of sword holders, we must guard our honor, and that is all.”

“Then what’s your innermost ideal of beauty, Grandfather?”

“Oh no, no, no! I mean, what’s your… ideal?”

“An ideal…” Grandfather also gazed at the stars, his eyes filled with hope. “My greatest ideal, my greatest beauty, is to see the ‘Di Er Shi Jie’ with my own eyes before I die.”

“Di Er Shi Jie? What’s that?”

“It’s the most beautiful world! Every sword wielder yearns for it!”

“Hmm, I don’t yearn for it.”

“So you’re still young, hehehe…”

Grandfather rubbed the young Su Qianqian’s head again, then his laughter faded, and he became serious:

“Child, remember! People live for beauty, not for hatred!

“If in the future, I unfortunately fall by another’s hand, it’s just the way of famed sword struggles, an ancient norm.

“You must not dwell on it, letting hatred cloud your mind and lead you to extremes. Know that what you should pursue is your own most beautiful path!”

Su Qianqian shook her head. “Grandfather, you’re talking nonsense again. How could you ever lose?”

Grandfather burst into laughter. “Of course not! I’m the strongest sword cultivator bar none! Well, maybe there is one. When you grow up, I’ll step aside to second place, and you can be first. How about that?”

“Okay!” The young Su Qianqian waved her fists, her little face full of excitement.

The scene shifted again, back to when Su Qianqian returned to the Su family estate and received the inheritance pearl from her third uncle.

The inheritance pearl recorded the battle between Grandfather and Ba Zun Ahn.

The final move was Grandfather’s “Time-Space Leap,” entering Ba Zun Ahn’s “Di Er Shi Jie,” leaving behind his last words in this world:

“To hear the Dao at dawn is to die content at dusk.”

“Wuwuwu…” As the memories clarified, Su Qianqian burst into tears.

She was only fourteen; she still didn’t fully understand what her third uncle and grandfather meant. She still harbored resentment toward the one who had destroyed all her beauty.

But…

As an ancient sword cultivator who had accepted the inheritance, Su Qianqian also realized her current situation.

“Di Er Shi Jie…

“Grandfather, I’ve reached the most beautiful Di Er Shi Jie you spoke of, but why am I the only one here…”

Her sobs gradually quieted.

Su Qianqian wiped away her tears, loneliness in her eyes, as she drew Mu Ming Cheng Xue again and glanced at Ba Zun Ahn’s corpse at her feet, slowly regaining her senses.

“I’m sorry, Grandfather, I still walked the extreme path you warned against…”

In that moment, she realized she couldn’t let go of her obsession with revenge.

But Grandfather was right—hatred isn’t life’s only purpose; pursuing beauty is what everyone should do.

Su Qianqian vaguely remembered that in the inheritance pearl, when she saw Grandfather in the Di Er Shi Jie, his face showed the most sincere, joyful smile.

In contrast, her own “most lonely” Di Er Shi Jie… she knew Grandfather would never want to see it.

This world held nothing but hatred!

“But, apart from hatred, what else can I have…”

Su Qianqian watched as Mu Ming Cheng Xue in her arms suddenly dissipated, and the enemy’s corpse at her feet turned to stardust. She looked around in confusion and helplessness, grasping at nothing.

Just then.

“Hehehe, hehehehe…”

A foolish laugh reached her ears, and Su Qianqian snapped back to reality. The world before her crumbled, returning her to the Eighth Dragon Vein.

“What… what did I just experience?”

Su Qianqian was bewildered, feeling as if she had journeyed through her inner world, yet unsure why.

Turning her head, she saw Gu Qing San lying spread-eagled on a large rock in the shape of the character “da,” with a foolish grin on his face, still not awake.

“Di Er Shi Jie?”

Su Qianqian recalled something and quickly looked up at the void.

But the void was empty—gone was the sword light, even the Sky City had vanished!

“Third Senior Brother! Third Senior Brother!”

Without hesitation, Su Qianqian rushed over and shook him.

Yet Gu Qing San just kept laughing foolishly, unable to pull out of the Di Er Shi Jie.

To die in ultimate beauty, to live eternally in endless sin… Su Qianqian suddenly thought of the essence of the Di Er Shi Jie and panicked.

Then.

“Hehehe, hehehe…

“Gu Qing Yi, oh Gu Qing Yi, you’ve got your day now? Copy the ‘Jian Jing’ ten thousand times! Write it now!

“And you, Gu Qing Er! How does it feel to be defeated in one strike? Enjoying it? Wahaha…

“Wen Ting! Haha, you thief Wen Ting, I’ve wanted to beat you for ages. Now, will you finally admit that swordless techniques are the strongest? Hahahaha…”

Gu Qing San muttered in his sleep, even gesturing as if forking his waist.

Listening to this from the side, Su Qianqian stared in daze.

He’s alive!

And can be saved!

But… Third Senior Brother, what kind of dream are you having?

And how dare you casually call our master by his holy name?

“Slap!”

No one was in sight, but suddenly, Gu Qing San’s left cheek swelled red, as if slapped hard, and he jolted awake.

“What the… Master, why did you hit me?”

Gu Qing San looked around frantically. In his dream, Master had appeared and slapped him viciously.

But upon waking, he couldn’t see Master anywhere…

Suddenly, Gu Qing San realized what had happened and stared up at the sky.

“Di Er Shi Jie?

“That just now—was that the Di Er Shi Jie? Who struck that blow?”

Glancing down, he saw Su Qianqian’s adorable face, and the question of “who struck” became unimportant.

He was dumbfounded. “Little Junior Sister? You woke up so quickly—ju-just now, you didn’t hear anything, did you?”

Su Qianqian stared at her third senior brother, suddenly understanding what Grandfather meant by the “most beautiful world.” She covered her mouth and burst out laughing.

“Third Senior Brother, I heard everything.”

Gu Qing San clutched his swollen, pig-like face: ???

At the Guyin Cliff ruins.

Shui Gui and Cen Qiaofu quickly regained their senses and turned in shock toward Xiuyuan Ke, whose residual sword wave had affected them.

“This… is this something that guy could do?”

Cen Qiaofu couldn’t connect the person who had merely imitated him and was trapped by Shui Gui’s water sphere with the one who had just unleashed this world-shaking sword.

But before he could dwell on it.

“Thud!”

Following Xiuyuan Ke, Ba Zun Ahn also collapsed.

“Oh no…”

Cen Qiaofu panicked and hurried over, supporting Ba Zun Ahn.

“Cough, cough, I’m fine… Pfft!”

Ba Zun Ahn spat blood all over his face, weakly pointing a trembling finger at the nearby Xiuyuan Ke. “First, check his condition!”

Cen Qiaofu: “…”

Is this what you call fine?

If you keep pushing it, I might not live to see you again!

After feeding Ba Zun Ahn a pill, Cen Qiaofu set him down and turned to examine Xiuyuan Ke, whose body was covered in cracks and blood, his arm limp and devoid of any vital energy.

“He’s dead.”

Cen Qiaofu sighed.

That sword strike must have been the pinnacle of his life, right?

Surviving that would be a miracle!

“Dead?”

Ba Zun Ahn was stunned, his voice rising. “That can’t be! He hid his sword for over a decade; he should have held on to at least one last breath…”

Just then, Shui Gui stepped forward, checked Xiuyuan Ke’s nose, then felt his chest.

“No breath, heartbeat stopped…”

He stated calmly, then reached for Xiuyuan Ke’s neck.

Faintly, at the major artery, there seemed to be a slight pulse.

Shui Gui breathed a sigh of relief. “He’s still alive, but barely. In this state, he’ll probably never wake up—might as well be a living corpse.”

“So it was still too forced…” Ba Zun Ahn sighed, not entirely despairing. “As the one who performed the technique, he’s just overly immersed in his own Di Er Shi Jie. He’ll wake when he can.”

Cen Qiaofu: “…”

Shui Gui: “…”

“After all, striking beyond his limits was tough.” Ba Zun Ahn forced a smile. “But once he wakes, he’ll gain a lot. Help me up… Cough, cough… Pfft!”

As soon as Cen Qiaofu leaned in, he got splattered with blood.

He silently wiped his face clean, then hoisted both of them up, one on each shoulder.

“I should be the one to do this.” Shui Gui looked at the two limp “corpses” and said helplessly.

Ba Zun Ahn shook his head slightly. “You could bear the city, but I just issued the Sheng Di Jin Zhao order, and it’ll take days to recover enough to issue another. We can’t wait that long.”

He gazed toward the central domain and murmured, “That guy won’t give us that much time.”

Shui Gui followed his gaze into the void and nodded silently.

He knew that well.

The Sheng Shen Dian Tang wouldn’t allow them to carry a city and wait for another order.

Besides, Dao Qiong Cang’s power was known to all.

One misstep, and they’d lose the Void Island and everyone on it!

“We should go.”

Shui Gui stared at the empty sky.

At that moment, the Void Island had been cleaved away by Xiuyuan Ke’s sword.

Naturally, this ancient fortress couldn’t just vanish or retreat into spatial fragments.

Others might not see it, but Shui Gui could: high in the nine heavens, there was a jarring trace of time-space.

That spot was like an entrance to a different dimensional space.

And the Void Island had been embedded into the Di Er Shi Jie by Xiuyuan Ke’s sword, forever fixed in mid-air.

“Let’s go. They’re coming.”

Ba Zun Ahn nodded, saying no more, and focused on recovery.

Cen Qiaofu immediately shouldered the two, stomped his foot to open a spatial rift, and stepped inside.

Behind them, Shui Gui glanced toward the Yunhai direction of the cliff.

No more traces of the deep sea world remained here, for all that needed to end had ended, and all that needed to enter had entered.

With the Void Gate opened, everyone had been teleported to the Void Island.

That meant…

This operation was essentially over.

The Yunlun Mountains were no longer the main battlefield for the Ban Sheng and Sheng Di.

The next battlefield…

Void Island!

After they left.

Above the Guyin Cliff ruins, spatial teleportation fluctuations appeared, and two figures—one tall, one short—stepped out from the array.

The war machine Er Hao, over three zhang tall, carried the normal-sized Yan Wuse in his hands and silently landed on the shattered ground.

As the most advanced Tian Ji puppet, Er Hao’s existence was equivalent to a domain-level teleportation array.

He could go anywhere in the world.

Upon landing, Yan Wuse furrowed his brows.

“Sword intent, Huan Jian Shu power… Ba Zun Ahn was indeed here; he made a move.”

“Hmm, time-space attributes… That should be Yan Wang’s Huang Quan, right?”

“And cloud-based Ban Sheng power…”

Yan Wuse pondered, recalling Dao Qiong Cang’s words from the Ten-Person Council meeting: “For that Ban Sheng who acted alone, focus on checking the Northern Domain.”

Yan Wuse immediately identified the suspect.

“Ban Sheng, Jiang Buyi?”

In just a few breaths, based solely on auras and traces, Yan Wuse had deduced nearly all the parties involved in the battle here.

Behind him, the massive Er Hao scanned with data streams in his eyes and buzzed, “You’re correct on all counts.”

Yan Wuse glared at it impatiently. “Nonsense, who do you think I am? And you’re assigned to follow me, but as a trump card, shouldn’t you stay hidden?”

Er Hao nodded. “You’re right.”

Then he vanished.

Yan Wuse: “…”

Forget it, let’s check the Void Island first!

Looking up, Yan Wuse could naturally see the Void Island hidden in the Di Er Shi Jie, but he paused.

How to get in?

Behind him, Er Hao seemed to sense his confusion and reappeared, extending his hand to reveal a small token.

“The Dao Hall Master anticipated you’d forget the Void Token and instructed me to bring one before the meeting.

“Indeed, you forgot.”

Yan Wuse stared at the Void Token, deep in thought.

What’s going on?

So, even though I’m in charge of this operation, Dao Qiong Cang figured it all out before the meeting???