The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

One. Ten. A hundred. A thousand...

Lightsaber.

Countless lightsabers poured out of the disc, tips pointing downwards, hovering in the air. Their numbers continued to increase.

The entire battlefield was covered by a forest of swords.

Each lightsaber emitted a pale silver glow.

The leader of the giant demons stopped its attack. Its massive body froze in place, its two half-meter-long tentacles twitching towards Chen Hao for three seconds.

Then it ran away.

It turned around, ignoring the obstruction of its own kind, stepping over the bodies of other demons, and charged madly towards the outside of the barrier gap.

But it was too late.

Chen Hao's two fingers fell.

The sword fell.

The first wave. Thousands of lightsabers fell simultaneously, not flying out, but pouring down.

Like a waterfall, countless lightsabers surged from the disc and plummeted downwards. The speed was so fast that the naked eye could only see a silvery-white curtain of light. This curtain of light enveloped the entire area in front of the hole.

No sound.

There was no explosion or energy shockwave the moment the lightsaber pierced the body. There was only a silent penetration.

Each lightsaber struck a demon with pinpoint accuracy, piercing its head, its chest, and its spine.

After the first wave, thousands more demon corpses lay on the ground.

The second wave followed immediately.

The third wave.

The fourth wave.

The rain of lightsabers continued to fall. The lightsaber source in the disc was inexhaustible. With each wave that fell, a new wave was generated. Dense silver light descended from the sky.

The horde of demons surging into the breach fell one after another, row upon row.

The demon horde outside the breach—whether they tried to escape or retreat—was doomed. Lightswords relentlessly pursued them.

The colossal leader burst through the breach and surged onto the wasteland outside the barrier, as a lightsaber fell from above. It was three times larger than the other lightsabers. It pierced through the leader's back and emerged from its abdomen.

The leader's limbs held up for two seconds. Then it collapsed.

In the live stream room.

The comments section paused for a full eight seconds.

then!

"What did I see?"

"Sword...Rain?"

"I counted, it lasted at least six minutes. Each wave had thousands of swords."

"What kind of magic is this?"

"That leader can't escape even if he tries."

"Pay close attention to those Sushen people."

"Which one?"

"Everyone. Look at their expressions."

The images captured by the crystal show the state of the Sushen warriors.

They stopped. Everyone stopped. Weapons hung at their sides. Heads tilted back, looking at the person in the sky.

As they watched the endless rain of silver swords fall, some people's mouths moved, but they couldn't speak; others knelt down, not to pay their respects, but because their legs went weak.

The rain of swords stopped.

The disc slowly closed and dissipated behind Chen Hao. Not a single Heavenly Demon remained standing on the battlefield.

The ground was covered with a layer of dark yellow liquid and gray debris.

Chen Hao fell back to the ground from the air. He landed next to Yun Cangyan.

He glanced at the gap in the barrier.

Then raise your hand. Spread your fingers and push towards the gap.

An invisible force surged from his palm. The edges of the gap began to regrow, and a gray barrier spread rapidly from the cut towards the center.

Five seconds later, the gap closed.

The barrier remains intact.

The entire battlefield was silent for three seconds.

then!

"We won!" a voice shouted. Hoarse, broken, but very loud.

"The Heavenly Demons are dead, all of them are dead!"

"Dead! All dead!"

"We won!"

"The Heavenly Demons are dead! All of them are dead!"

Cheers. Cries and screams. Utter chaos.

Then came the second voice. The third. The tenth.

Some people laughed loudly, squatting on the ground and covering their faces. Some people burst into tears, their bodies trembling with sobs. Some people laughed and cried at the same time, hugging the people around them, whether they knew them or not.

More than a thousand people. They fought for a day and a night. Their compatriots died. Many were seriously wounded. They thought they were going to die!

And then suddenly... we won.

Chen Siyao stood behind, watching this scene. Her eyes welled up with tears.

Yun Cangyan looked at Chen Hao.

He was still holding the halberd, but his hand was trembling. He slowly put the halberd down and then knelt on one knee.

"Venerable One."

His voice was low and deep, with the roughness characteristic of the elderly.

"The Sushen people... are grateful to Your Excellency for saving our people."

He knelt down, and everyone around him followed suit. No orders were needed. No one needed to lead the way.

They knelt down one by one. The front row knelt, the middle row knelt, and the wounded soldiers in the back row, those who could move, struggled to kneel as well.

The ground was covered with people lying prone. Their voices were unified, echoing throughout the entire battlefield.

Chen Hao glanced at it and then raised his hand.

Everyone, all of them, were lifted up by an uncontrollable force, their bodies rising to their feet. Whether they wanted to or not. No matter how firmly they had knelt.

Stood up.

A short gasp rippled through the crowd.

Chen Hao didn't dwell on the matter. He turned to Yun Cangyan.

"You are the clan leader."

It's not a question.

Yun Cangyan straightened up. "Yes."

Chen Hao walked to a flat rock and sat down.

"An extraterrestrial demon. Where did it come from?"

Yun Cangyan did not hesitate. He handed the halberd to a middle-aged man beside him, tidied his disheveled white hair, and walked up to Chen Hao.

The middle-aged man, carrying a halberd, approached Yun Wanlan and led her aside.

"Lanlan".

His voice was complex. There was relief, heartache, and something else indescribable.

"The Grand Duke told you to leave, so why have you come back?"

Yun Wanlan stood to the side. She paused for a moment when she heard those words.

"Father," she said, "when the Grand Duke gave me the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, he said, 'Go to Kyushu. Find the Venerable One.'"

The man was silent for a moment.

"Father," Yun Wanlan took a step forward. "You and the Grand Duke never thought I could find the Venerable One. Didn't you?"

The man did not speak.

"You gave me the Boundary-Breaking Pearl not so I could go get reinforcements," Yun Wanlan stared at her father's face. "You told me to run away."

The man closed his eyes briefly. His lips moved twice, but he only uttered one word.

"Yes."

Yun Wanlan stood still.

Her hands hung limply at her sides, not holding the bow. Her braids were completely undone, and stray hairs clung to her cheeks.

"Father."

Her voice was very soft.

"Venerable One...you also believe it doesn't exist?"

The man looked at his daughter.

"That's a legend from thousands of years ago," he said. "Passed down orally. No one has ever actually seen the Venerable One. There's no written record of his origins. We don't even know if he was a person or a title."

He paused for a moment.

"Your grandfather, your uncle, your brother, and me—none of us truly believed in this legend."

Yun Wanlan did not answer immediately.

"But!" she said, then stopped.

Chen Siyao stood a dozen steps away, listening quietly. Yang Wanqing was beside her, having already put away the candied hawthorn stick in his hand.