Chapter 219 - Nine Hells Contends for the Heavens, the Dao of the Sword Reigns Supreme!
The Demon Continent was a primordial, desolate floating landmass. It was all rugged mountains and wild ridges, overrun with grass and trees. Beasts roamed, gnawing on flesh and drinking blood, vying for their next meal in a land where cities were about as common as water in the driest deserts.
Deep abysses and rivers housed countless demon caves, where groups of mighty demons ruled the roost. The Great Merciful Tribulation had swept through, turning the eastern part of Demon Continent into a veritable inferno. And right smack in the center of this hellish place, where the void was frail and the universe twisted like a pretzel, one could just make out the flicker of sword light.
Right then, a tiny vortex of light started shaking like a leaf in a storm.
BOOM! Out of this shimmering swirl fell a pitch-black snake corpse, landing with a thud that could wake the dead. Its eyes rolled back, its body crisscrossed with sword wounds.
Then, quick as a flash, a sword light zipped by, and a figure in white stepped out from the vortex, landing on this vast, dark land. The man was middle-aged, dressed in flowing white robes, exuding an air that was out of this world. He stood above the landscape, hands clasped behind his back, as if he owned the place.
Beneath his feet floated a six-foot Sovereign Sword, surrounded by an incredibly dense Sword Aura and many Sword Rings. Layers of mist swirled around it, obscuring the layers of the Sword Aura and the number of Sword Rings. One thing was clear, though, there were a lot of both. A whole lot.
"This continent..." The man in white gazed across the Demon Continent with a pair of sharp, penetrating eyes, a flicker of curiosity dancing within their depths.
"Master, wait for me!" Another streak of sword light pierced through the vortex. This time, it was a charming, adorable young girl. Her six-foot Sovereign Sword was adorned with four Sword Rings, and the number of Sword Aura layers was over 600!
The girl was endearing and lively, her expression animated. A large, striking azure bow was tied at her lower back, impossible to miss.
"Huh?" Upon reaching the man in white, the girl with the bow looked curiously at the Demon Continent and said in a puzzled tone, "After breaking through the barrier, a continent appears in the fold of the Nine Hells Realm? How about that?"
"Mhm." The man in white nodded, guiding the girl around the area with his Sovereign Sword. "The aura of immortal energy here is rather meager. Seems like it's home to some residual demons, but they're no biggie."
"That doesn't sound too promising." The girl pouted. "One look and you can tell, it's a place of filth and decay."
The man in white didn't reply but simply withdrew his Sovereign Sword and landed on the ground.
"Master, I'm in a hurry to attend the Sword Baptism Ceremony. Shall we head back to Eternal Sword Prison?" The girl seemed somewhat distracted.
"We have plenty of time, no rush," the man in white said, his attention fixed as he walked across the rugged mountains.
"Oh, okay." The girl with the butterfly bow followed him, but she didn't touch the ground. Instead, she used a magic barrier to isolate herself from the air of the Demon Continent, which she found utterly disagreeable with its filth and stench.
"Qian Die!" the man in white suddenly exclaimed, "Come here."
"Master?" The girl looked puzzled as she approached.
"Look at this ground!" The man's eyes blazed with an intensity that could start a fire.
Qian Die followed his gaze and saw a patch of ground where dirt and rocks seemed to have been wiped clean, revealing a layer of dark violet crystal that shimmered with a mysterious violet light.
"Is this an Immortal Crystal vein?" The girl's eyes sparkled with excitement.
But to her surprise, the man in white shook his head. "No, it's not."
"Then it's worthless," she said, disappointed.
Without another word, the man in white waved his sword, and the earth rolled away like waves, revealing more of the violet crystal ground.
"Try attacking it with your Sword Soul," he instructed.
"Alright!" Qian Die nodded, and her six-foot Sovereign Sword transformed into a Palm Sword, stabbing down fiercely. Sparks flew everywhere with a clang!
"Ouch," she winced, her eyebrows knitting together in frustration. Her Sword Soul couldn't make even the slightest mark on the violet crystal surface.
"Even the highest grade Immortal Crystals wouldn't be this hard..." Qian Die said in disbelief.
KLANG! The man in white also struck the violet crystal ground with his Sword Soul, only to have it bounced back.
"Master, even you can't leave a mark? What is this ground made of?" Qian Die's eyes widened in astonishment.
"It's not just this patch of ground. The core of this entire continent is made of this material!" the man in white said, sheathing his Sword Soul but visibly shaken. He turned to the girl, his eyes burning with intensity, "Die'er, have you ever heard of the legend of the Heavenly Land?"
"Heavenly Land?" The girl pondered, then said dazedly, "The legend says that the nine hells of our Nine Hells Realm originated from the Heavenly Land, which is the foundation of our realm?"
"Exactly!" The man in white nodded, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
Qian Die was stunned for a moment, then looking around, she shook her head and chuckled, "Master, that's just a legend. This is just a fold in the world of the Nine Hells Realm, not even a complete world. How could the Heavenly Land possibly exist in such a place?"
"Because it's unexpected, it might have remained undiscovered for so long..." The man in white looked up, his gaze burning as he surveyed the vast land. "In the battle for supremacy of the Nine Hells, the Sword Dao reigns supreme! If this truly is the Heavenly Land, then this time, our Eternal Sword Prison will be at the forefront of the struggle!"
The girl, Qian Die, couldn't quite grasp his burning ambition for supremacy. She was at a loss as to what this Heavenly Land really meant.
"Master, this desolate land has nothing, and we can't even scratch the surface of this ground... What use could it possibly have?" she asked quietly.
The man in white chuckled at her question. "The wonders of the Heavenly Land are beyond your imagination. It just needs to be unearthed slowly. Without it, there's no Nine Hells Realm. As the foundation of the Nine Hells Realm, it is everything!"
"Is it really that extraordinary?" Qian Die bit her lip, still struggling to wrap her head around it. She whispered, "Master, then the value of this information... must be incredibly high, right?"
"I'll inform the Eternal Sword Prison immediately," the man in white said, patting Qian Die's shoulder gently. "Don't worry, your name will be included. But once you're back, keep your mouth shut and wait for the decision of the elders."
"Thank you, Master!" Qian Die's eyes sparkled with joy.
"And how will you repay me?" The man in white moved his hand from her shoulder to her cheek, gently pinching her earlobe.
The girl trembled slightly, bowing her head.
"Be good tonight, understand?" he said with a smile, looking at her youthful face.
"Yes..." she hummed softly.
"Don't worry, as long as you behave, Mu Heng will never find out," he assured her.
"Yes..." As she thought of that sunny, carefree young man who was wholeheartedly devoted to her, Qian Die took a deep breath and murmured, "Well, it's not like you can offer me much of a future anyway..."
Meanwhile, the man in white had already risen on his Sovereign Sword.
"Let's first see if there are any other entrances here," he said.
"Do you think the other eight Hells have discovered this place?" Qian Die asked softly.
"Hard to say. This place is a fold between the Eternal Sword Prison and the Endless Netherworld. We've had a barrier breach on our side, so those despicable devils might have found a way in too..."
The man in white looked on with an icy gaze.
VROOOM! They soared into the sky on their Sovereign Swords, gliding over the Demon Continent.
In just a few hours, they had scoured numerous regions and interrogated a handful of demons.
"No word from the other eight Hells yet." The man in white breathed a sigh of relief.
"These demons mentioned there's another continent below, and they're at war? Are our human race down there?" Qian Die, having spent too much time in this foul-smelling Demon Continent, was getting restless.
"I wonder if there are any Sword Cultivators down there?" He peered below, his eyes piercing through endless clouds. "It seems the aura of Immortal energy is richer on that land below."
"Even if there are Sword Cultivators, their ranks probably aren't that high. After all, it's just a folded land," Qian Die remarked.
"Let's go down and see."
Two streaks of sword light plummeted from the sky. Their speed far surpassed the marching pace of the 100 million-strong demon army. The sword lights shot through the clouds with incredible velocity. Soon, an army of over 100 million demons came into view.
Gazing at the fierce, wild demons, the man in white remained unfazed. His eyes then fell on another group, humans in violet magic armor. "They're brave, aren't they? A million human cultivators daring to fight against 100 million demons?" Qian Die was somewhat surprised.
"You're mistaken, they're together," the man in white said with a cold laugh.
Qian Die was baffled. "That's way off the mark!"
Then, from the spherical Heavenly Realm below, came a declaration of war amplified by the Primordial Bell of the Heavenly Realm.
"An ancient era where a billion Sword Cultivators went to their deaths?" The man in white furrowed his brows deeply.
"It seems this folded land has our Eternal Sword Prison's doctrine," Qian Die noted.
"This Empress has quite the presence." The man in white observed from a god-like vantage point, his gaze landing on a massive mountain of blood and flesh.
"There's a corpse demon!" His frown deepened.
"A corpse demon? That's disgusting... Master, can we leave now?" Qian Die asked nervously.
"You're not planning to lend a hand to the humans?" the man in white asked, eyeing her.
Qian Die glanced at the horde of 100 million demons and said, "These filthy demons might taint the purity of my Sword Soul... I've never slain such dirty things."
"Oh?" The man in white didn't say much. After a moment of silence, he added, "This corpse demon is indeed a tough nut to crack. It's the type that gets stronger the more you kill it. You need a special Demon Refining Cauldron to truly vanquish it. The message has been sent back to the Eternal Sword Prison. Someone will bring the cauldron soon... Let's first head to this pocket universe and see what's going on."
The master-disciple duo quietly entered the Heavenly Realm.
Just then, the Primordial Array of the Heavenly Realm had just disappeared.
"This human world is not too shabby. It has everything it needs," Qian Die finally felt a bit more comfortable as the two strolled the streets. Eventually, they entered a tavern.
"Owner, bring us some wine," the man in white called out.
The tavern owner, already donned in magic armor, looked at the odd pair and said, "War's about to break out, and you're in the mood for drinking?"
The man in white smiled. "Wine to embolden the spirit, to slaughter the demons. Three bowls down, and the sword's might grows eightfold!"
"Alright then!" The owner brought up several jars of wine, his eyes filled with worry. "The Primordial Array suddenly vanished. I don't even know if I'll be alive tomorrow. The wine's on the house!"
After saying that, the owner left the tavern to join the battle.
"The spirit of total war, not bad." The man in white, leaning against the window, watched the storm brewing over the Heavenly Realm city, sipping his wine and observing.
"Master." Qian Die, who didn't care for alcohol, stood up and said, "I'll take a walk around."
"Go ahead! Signal with your sword if there's trouble," he replied.
Qian Die walked a few steps, then turned back to ask, "So, we're not going to help them out first?"
The man in white chuckled lightly and said, "You're still too green."
Qian Die thought resentfully, Would you like me if I weren't green, you perverted old man?! But she dared not say it out loud.
The man in white took a sip of wine and looked out the window, musing, "The so-called saviors always appear when people are most desperate. That way, they're remembered most vividly. And when is that moment of despair? When nearly half have fallen in battle, and the world is on the brink of collapse. Then, the Sword Gods of our Eternal Sword Prison will be mining the Heavenly Land above, while the beings below sing praises of me—Gu Baiyi, the Solitary White Robe, and my great deeds. Beautiful, isn't it?"
"..." Qian Die was struck speechless.
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