The First Venerable of All Paths

"Boom!"

Sword energy and evil energy collided, creating towering waves.

The entire lake was filled with turbid water and was torn apart.

The spear, radiating an eerie aura, swung back and was caught in Xie Gui's hand.

The terrifying power emanating from the spear caused Xie Gui's body to tremble.

Xie Gui stared intently down below, at the sword cultivator's skeleton that stepped out of the parted lake water, his face filled with ferocious killing intent.

"Qinghe, you old codger, you really know how to hold back!"

Xie Gui's features were distorted, and his tone was sinister.

"Three hundred years, a full three hundred years, you were willing to be a puppet controlled by me, without revealing a single flaw, all for this day?"

Three hundred years ago, he and Qinghe and others accidentally discovered this ancient cave and the Azure Lotus Secret Realm.

What excited Xie Gui and the others even more was that beneath the lake in this secret realm, an eighth-grade green lotus was actually growing.

Faced with such a priceless treasure, the powerful figures engaged in fierce fighting and slaughtered each other.

In the end, Master Qinghe, relying on his unparalleled swordsmanship, defeated all his powerful enemies and took the Azure Lotus into his possession.

As a result, Master Qinghe was severely injured and his combat strength was greatly reduced.

Just as Master Qinghe was preparing to take the eighth-grade green lotus and take that step, he was ambushed by Xie Gui, who had been lurking in the shadows for a long time.

On the verge of death, Master Qinghe sacrificed his natal flying sword to severely injure Xie Gui, and then fled with Qinglian.

Xie Gui pursued them relentlessly, only to find the dying Qinghe Shangren.

However, Xie Gui was unable to find the eighth-grade green lotus on Qinghe Shangren.

Unwilling to give up, Xie Gui searched the entire secret realm several times, but still couldn't find the whereabouts of the eighth-grade green lotus.

He believed that Master Qinghe would rather destroy the eighth-grade green lotus than let him benefit from it.

What angered him even more was that, before his death, Master Qinghe shattered the central core of the secret realm, intending to trap him here forever.

Enraged, Xie Gui used a secret technique to refine the remnant soul of Qinghe Shangren, and at the same time, he turned his corpse into a puppet.

After doing all this, Xie Gui's cultivation level dropped due to the severity of his injuries.

Left with no other choice, Xie Gui could only heal his wounds while waiting for the next opening of the secret realm.

But to Xie Gui's surprise, Master Qinghe was also plotting something.

He was not completely controlled by himself. Instead, he secretly drew twelve fragments of the shattered core of the secret realm and tried to send them out.

At the same time, he also cultivated the eighth-grade green lotus into the rare ninth-grade green lotus.

His purpose was to wait for the secret realm to reopen so that he could leave behind a legacy.

wrong!

"Your purpose is not simply to find a successor."

Xie Gui looked at the skeletal Qinghe Shangren and said, "You actually want to be resurrected, and you don't want to be controlled by me for the rest of your life. It's just that your last remaining wisp of will is too weak, too weak to allow me to possess you."

"Having no other choice, you can only give the eighth-grade green lotus you discovered back then, as well as all your knowledge, to that kid named Fang Xuan."

Xie Gui scoffed, "Qing He, am I right?"

Master Qinghe remained silent, as if tacitly agreeing.

The cyan sword light in his hand was frantically gathering at the rib.

Countless blue lotus flowers bloomed freely in the surrounding void.

Each blue lotus is a manifestation of a sword technique.

In an instant, all the blue lotuses closed up, condensing into a giant lotus flower, which burst forth with a tidal wave of blue sword light, slashing wildly down at Xie Gui.

"Looks like I was right!"

Xie Gui let out a wild laugh and thrust out the evil spirit spear in his hand.

Hundreds and thousands of spear shadows erupted and swept across the area at that moment, shattering all the sword light.

"Qinghe, you want to buy that kid time? You're dreaming."

As soon as he regained his footing, Xie Gui charged at Qinghe Shangren with his spear, his killing intent and fighting spirit howling like a cold wind.

"Your strength is almost gone; killing you would be as easy as turning my hand!"

The spear pierced down fiercely.

A thick, long spear descended from the sky, stabbing fiercely at Qinghe Shangren.

At that moment, the air was compressed, and space emitted a tearing groan.

Master Qinghe brandished his ribs, and the blue sword light bloomed once more, exuding a sharp and fierce aura.

"Snap!"

But as Xie Gui said, Master Qinghe was too weak.

His cultivation, which was once so close to the Profound Realm, has long since dwindled to almost nothing.

Faced with Xie Gui's unparalleled attack, it was annihilated upon seeing the light.

The ribs in his hand shattered like fragile porcelain.

"Click-clack!"

Master Qinghe retreated repeatedly, raising his empty eye sockets to look at the giant spear hurtling towards him, its blue light surging.

He opened his mouth and spat out a streak of blue light, which shot out like lightning.

"Sizzle!"

A dazzling sword aura, as thick as an arm, instantly stretched across the heavens and earth, slashing fiercely at the spear.

"Snap!"

The giant spear was cleaved in two by a single sword strike, but the azure greatsword also vanished, turning into a broken azure blade that hovered beside Qinghe Shangren.

"The Green Lotus Sword?"

Xie Gui's expression hardened, and he sneered, "It's a pity that your natal flying sword has already broken. How much power can it still unleash?"

Having said that, Xie Gui was about to make another move.

But the next moment, as if sensing something, he suddenly looked down.

From the depths of that murky lake, a terrifying aura, sharp as a sword and blazing as fire, was awakening.

"Boom!"

Above the sky, dark clouds gathered, accompanied by flashes of lightning and thunder.

"Oh no, that kid's going to succeed!"

Xie Gui's expression changed drastically, and he thrust his spear downwards with great force.

Evil energy gathered at the tip of the spear, eventually transforming into a gray beam of light that shot through the air, attempting to stop Fang Xuan from refining the Ninth-Grade Green Lotus.

"laugh!"

Qingying flashed quickly, blocking the gray beam of light. With a grab of her skeletal hand, she actually crushed the gray beam of light.

"Qinghe!"

Looking at the blue bones that had exploded from the bone hand, Xie Gui's eyes turned bloodshot.

"Are you still going to stop me?"

Qinghe did not respond, but the blue light in her eyes flickered even more intensely.

The cyan broken blade once again unleashed a dazzling sword aura, slashing towards Xie Gui.

But it was clear that the power of this sword strike was much weaker than before.

Easily deflecting the attack, Xie Gui said, "Qing He, you can't stop me. Even if that brat has temporarily refined the Ninth-Rank Azure Lotus, I can still obtain this power!"

He possessed many secret techniques of the evil race.

As long as Fang Xuan fails to completely refine the power of the Ninth-Rank Azure Lotus, Xie Gui has a way to extract that power and use it for his own purposes.

"Qinghe, give up."

Xie Gui said, "Considering our long-standing acquaintance, I will allow you to retain this lingering resentment to end your remaining life."

His response was a blue lotus flower surrounded by terrifying sword energy.

"Stubborn to the end!"

Xie Gui's face darkened, and he could no longer suppress his murderous intent.

"break!"

With a single blow, the blue lotus flower shattered, and Xie Gui grabbed it with his large hand.

The void trembled, and two blood-red skeletons slowly emerged.

The two skeletons were covered in eerie gray runes that formed chains that wrapped around their bodies.

These two skeletons possessed the aura of the peak of the Condensation Realm.

Although there is no flesh and blood, one can still see the shadows of Sang Mo and Zou Mi.

"It's a pity the refining time was too short, otherwise we could have restored all their cultivation levels from when they were alive."

Xie Gui glanced down and said coldly, "But it's enough to deal with a Qi Gathering Realm nobody!"

"go!"

At Xie Gui's command, the two blood-red skeletons shot headlong into the lake below.

Qinghe sensed something and was about to stop him, but Xie Gui had already charged at her with his spear.

"I have already given you a chance!"

Xie Gui's face was filled with murderous intent as he brandished his spear.

"Since you old codger don't cherish it, then I'll shatter your last vestige of hope and send your soul to its grave!"

Xie Gui is too fast.

The spear slammed heavily onto Qinghe's skeleton.

The skeleton released a blue light in an attempt to block it, but it was in vain.

Faced with terrifying power, the azure light exploded, and the skeleton was sent flying.

More bone fragments fell, turning into dust.

Master Qinghe's aura grew increasingly weak.

The remains belonging to Sang Mo and Zou Mi have broken through the lake's surface and are heading straight for the cluster of green light at the bottom of the lake.

The speed is getting faster and faster.

The blue light in Master Qinghe's eyes flickered even more rapidly.

He was anxious.

If Fang Xuan is interrupted, all his plans will be in vain.

But he couldn't stop it at all.

He "looked" at Xie Gui.

The blue light in his eye sockets transformed into two balls of blue flame.

Xie Gui understood Qing He's gaze.

That was a chilling killing intent.

It was hatred that had been accumulating for three hundred years.

Flesh and blood were destroyed, souls were refined, and even bones were sacrificed to become puppets.

Neither human nor ghost.

Three hundred years.

How could I not hate it!

"war!"

The fleshless mouth opened and closed, emitting an extremely cold note.

In an instant, an intense fighting spirit soared into the sky, tearing through the clouds.

An astonishing sword intent swept across all directions.

Flames rose around the skeleton of Master Qinghe.

He raised his remaining bony arm and clenched it tightly.

Water droplets, fallen leaves, and pebbles floated up slowly.

Like swords arrayed in formation, their sword aura chilling.

"Qinghe, have you gone mad?"

Xie Gui's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "Sacrificing your lingering will, burning your sword essence—do you really want your soul to be scattered?"

"What is there to fear for a dying man?"

A sharp, sword-like voice resounded throughout the secret realm.

"kill!"

As the sound faded, water droplets, fallen leaves, and pebbles transformed into chilling sword light, sweeping towards Xie Gui in an overwhelming manner.

Sword essence is the origin of a sword cultivator's sword path, second only to sword heart in importance.

Bones have no heart, but lingering thoughts have intention.

He sacrificed his remaining spirit and burned his sword essence, all for the sake of unleashing this earth-shattering sword strike.

"This is insane, absolutely insane!"

Xie Gui's face showed a solemn expression.

At his peak, Master Qinghe's strength surpassed even his.

Even though Xie Gui had just refined the Seven-Leaf Evil Lotus and recovered some of his cultivation, he was only at the fifth level of the Divine Intent Realm.

Faced with Qinghe's all-out attack, Xie Gui had no confidence that he could withstand it.

But the sword sealed the heavens and earth, leaving him with no way to escape.

The only option is to tough it out.

"I refuse to believe that after three hundred years, you'll have very little strength left!"

Xie Gui gritted his teeth and quickly formed hand seals.

"The Eye of Evil!"

A crack appeared in the sky, revealing a giant eyeball behind it.

His eyes were tightly closed, yet blood was flowing from them.

"Buzz!"

His eyes suddenly snapped open, and a beam of blood-red light burst forth, colliding with the thousands of sword energies.

Silent and still, yet simultaneously annihilated.

Once all the sword energy dissipated, the blood-red eye closed again.

"puff!"

Xie Gui coughed up a mouthful of blood, his breath rapidly declined, and blood flowed from his eyes.

It was eerie and sinister.

The skeleton of Master Qinghe exploded, with his legs and remaining skeletal arms shattered, leaving only half of his body.

The blue flames in his eyes dimmed, becoming only the size of a grain of rice, as if they might go out at any moment.

Terrible!

"Qinghe, since you're digging your own grave, I'll grant your wish today!"

Despite the excruciating pain throughout his body, Xie Gui prepared to completely annihilate Master Qinghe.

at the same time.

The heavens and earth trembled.

"Buzz!"

"Buzz!"

"Buzz!"

Below, the lake ripples with waves.

A terrifying and sharp aura suddenly erupted from the depths of the lake, sweeping straight into the sky.