I tried to kill the heroines of destiny, but they ended up chasing after me.

A moment later, Zhang Jian calmly opened the sixth large wooden door. In his final moments before leaving, he first looked at Zhang Qing, then at Huang Quan, before finally carrying the unconscious Liu Xiyao away from there.

Not long after, the more than 5,000 square meter square was left with only Zhang Qing, who was shrouded in grudges, Huang Quan, who looked calm, and Guo Qin, who looked ashen.

With almost no dialogue or nonsense, after Zhang Qing ordered Guo Qin to retreat to the large wooden door, her beautiful eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, as if revealing an extremely powerful aura, causing the space around her to tremble.

"Early stage of Heavenly Monarch?" Sensing Zhang Qing's aura, Huang Quan narrowed his eyes and immediately judged Zhang Qing's current cultivation level: "No! This aura is not very stable. He should have just stepped into the Heavenly Monarch realm. If that's the case... I have a chance to win!" With a slight thought, the glint in Huang Quan's eyes grew stronger.

"Today! I will use your life to avert future misfortune!" Zhang Qing shouted fiercely, and in the next instant, she launched the first attack.

……

At the same time, also on the ice field.

The stunningly beautiful woman in purple stood atop an ice peak, her beautiful eyes gazing in the direction of the Emperor Sword Clan. She appeared remarkably calm, but the instant Huang Quan and Zhang Qing began their battle, she seemed to sense something, her eyes suddenly narrowing, a hint of surprise appearing on her face.

"Using the Heaven-Covering Technique of the Mystic Eye to prevent me from finding you, that's actually one way! But you don't know... I actually anticipated that you would do this..."

"Alas!" At this moment, a cold wind swept across the icy plains, landing on the delicate body of the woman in purple, seemingly adding to her sigh: "It's a pity that after this battle, you too will disappear into the causal threads of the Yellow Springs..."

"I will remember you. At least you helped me achieve my goal. If the True Profound Continent is saved in the end, you should... be satisfied, right?" With that, the woman in purple stopped talking to herself. Her perfect figure moved and disappeared without a trace, like a ghost.

It was as if she had never been here at all...

……

At the secret passage of the Imperial Sword Clan, before the sixth gate, a battle is about to begin.

With a flick of her left hand, Zhang Qing produced a thin sword with intersecting blue and red markings. Without hesitation and with extreme indifference, she immediately slashed fiercely at Huang Quan's location!

This slash, seemingly ordinary, was actually accompanied by an invisible sword light that approached the Yellow Springs with incredible speed the moment she drew her sword.

Huang Quan showed no fear. He knew this move wasn't strong, and he also knew that Zhang Qing was just using it to test him. He knew that although Zhang Qing seemed full of hatred on the surface, he was definitely not a fool who would be consumed by hatred. So no matter what, he had to be serious, otherwise the victorious girl would never smile at him.

"Her cultivation is stronger than mine. She can test me because she is afraid of me, but I can only use all my strength to end this battle as quickly as possible!" Huang Quan thought to himself, and then he launched his offensive with seriousness.

"Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth! Great Heavenly Wheel!" Huang Quan clasped his hands together and unleashed all his power without reservation, including spiritual power and evil energy. Then, an extremely thick gray light shot up from his body, instantly dyeing the originally dark sky gray. However, within this gray light, there seemed to be five other colors.

In the blink of an eye, from the gray light covering the sky, a huge object, about ten meters in diameter and resembling a waterwheel, with five colors, appeared directly in front of Zhang Qing.

As soon as this object appeared, a powerful force spread out, instantly shattering Zhang Qing's probing strike and causing him to take a half-step back.

"Huh?!" Zhang Qing was slightly surprised: "But reaching the Nirvana Perfection level already grants such powerful strength?"

Despite the shock, Zhang Qing did not back down. She was someone who was going to change the future of the Emperor Sword Clan, so how could she have any ulterior motives over such a small matter? Therefore, she quickly calmed down and steadied herself.

In an instant, Zhang Qing launched another attack. She raised the slender sword in her hand and suddenly roared: "The Heavenly Dao, the Central Heavenly Dao, one sword, one heaven... Heavenly Dao Sword!"

As she spoke, streaks of azure light emanated from the sword in her hand, spreading throughout the underground space like the gray light of the underworld. But this azure light was no ordinary azure light; it was Zhang Qing's sword light!

The sword light scattered in all directions, incredibly sharp, like countless swords flying through the air, rushing into the gray area and engaging in fierce combat with it. Looking up, one would see that half of the place was gray and the other half was blue, creating a strange feeling.

But this was not the end. As the blue light burst forth, Zhang Qing once again swung his sword down, this time no longer as a test, but with real killing intent.

With a single sword strike, the ground trembled violently, as if an invisible sword aura burst forth from the slender sword, causing the surrounding space to hiss and creak, showing signs of being unable to withstand it. And without a doubt, the ultimate target of this sword aura was the Yellow Springs before Zhang Qing, or the waterwheel!

"Hmph! Then let me see if your so-called swordsmanship is as strong as mine!" Huang Quan was not to be outdone. As he spoke, he manipulated the huge waterwheel and suddenly rushed towards Zhang Qing!

Both forces are formidable. If it weren't for the protective array here, and if this place weren't located so deep underground, it would likely have attracted the attention of many people, and would probably have caused even more chaos for the Emperor Sword Clan.

Fortunately, they weren't up there, so the commotion wasn't too great. Perhaps that's why Zhang Qing chose to stop Huang Quan and the others at the sixth gate! She didn't want people from the past to see her future self, but Zhang Jian... was just an exception.

In the blink of an eye, the waterwheel collided with the sword energy, and the powerful force instantly shattered the space. The aftershocks and storm swept across the area and landed on the two of them.

Huang Quan gritted his teeth and decisively channeled his spiritual power and evil energy to form a barrier. Zhang Qing also subtly changed his expression and used the light of his slender sword to keep the storm three feet away from him.

The two only breathed a sigh of relief when the storm subsided and everything returned to calm.

At this moment, Huang Quan was panting heavily, his face slightly pale, presumably having used a lot of strength. But Zhang Qing was not much better off; a bead of sweat trickled down her cheeks, and she looked very tired.

"She's incredibly strong! I mixed in evil energy, yet I couldn't even hurt her!!" Huang Quan thought to himself in surprise.

Little did he know that Zhang Qing harbored thoughts very similar to his own.

"The Heavenly Dao Sword Qi, while not my strongest move, is more than enough to instantly kill a cultivator in the late stage of the Transformation Realm. Yet this guy managed to withstand it with just one profound technique. It seems... I still can't underestimate him!"

At this moment, neither of them chose to act again, but instead focused on recovering their strength. Their strengths were roughly equal, so it was impossible to determine a winner in the short term. Therefore, both Huang Quan and Zhang Qing had no choice but to engage in a protracted battle.

Chapter 223 Rules

The location of the Emperor Sword Clan, Emperor Sword Village, and the Green Pavilion.

"The thirteenth generation?! You mean to say that my parents' bodies are in the coffin of the thirteenth patriarch?!" Jue Yi asked, his eyes narrowing and his mind slightly horrified.

“That’s right!” Zhang Shen didn’t deny it and nodded directly.

"Is that so?" Jue Yi tried to calm himself down, but soon another question arose: "Then what about your father? After your father died, why wasn't he buried in the Imperial Sword Clan's tomb? Was that his own request? Or is there another reason behind it?"

"Hidden reason? Hmph! What hidden reason is there? It's just because my father is still alive!" At this moment, Zhang Shen suddenly revealed a secret that might not even be considered a secret.

"Not dead?" Jue Yi asked in surprise again.

"Hehe!" Zhang Shen chuckled and explained, "I don't know the specifics either. In short, after he passed the position of clan leader to me, he disappeared from the Emperor Sword Clan. I said he went to the Void for the sake of trouble. You should understand now."

"You don't know either?" Jueyi asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Of course I don't know. If I did, I would have contacted that old guy to come and help me. What would you have to do with it? In the end, I am still his son, while you are, no matter how you look at it, a major threat to us. Don't you know that?" Zhang Shen said matter-of-factly.

"Hmph!" Upon hearing this, a cold smile appeared on Jueyi's face: "A major threat? Should I thank you for this honor?"

"No, no, no! Just as you said, we are the second lineage, and you are the first lineage. We became the first lineage after we wiped you out, so it's normal for us to worry about you first lineage making a comeback. However..."

At this moment, Zhang Shen also felt a strong sense of doubt. He stared at Jue Yi in front of him and said again, "I really want to know, back then my father clearly killed all the people of the First Lineage. Your father, your mother, or those members of the First Lineage, none of them were spared..."

"In the days that followed, my father even explored the Icefield Cave repeatedly to prevent you from escaping. So... how did you escape? And how did you re-infiltrate Emperor Sword Village?"

"This isn't a problem..." Jue Yi shook his head, replying without any concealment, "Back then, your Second Branch's actions were so large-scale. Although you set up barriers near our First Branch, making it impossible for the other five branches to truly determine what happened, there were still some clansmen within the Emperor Sword Clan who were extremely loyal to my father..."

"Oh? You mean those people helped you?" Zhang Shen's eyes flickered as he spoke.

"I suppose so! After I escaped, I was adopted by an ordinary member of the Third Clan. To avoid attracting attention, I didn't go out during your investigation, and even buried myself underground several times..."

"Fortunately, although your father was sensitive, it was during a sensitive period. He needed to establish a good image as the clan leader to cover up his ugly face, so your father's subordinates didn't dare to use excessive force against ordinary clansmen. Perhaps, to him, ordinary clansmen weren't worth his trouble at all! And that's how I survived..."

"For the next ten years or so, I lived very cautiously, both for revenge and to be able to set foot in Emperor Sword Village again. And hundreds of years later, when you all forgot my existence, when your Second Branch truly became the First Branch, I also successfully infiltrated the Third Branch... no, it should be the Second Branch..."

"Oh? The subsequent developments are quite dramatic, but you should understand that this is not what I'm asking. What you're talking about is just what happened after you escaped. These things are completely irrelevant. What I want to know is, who helped you leave that battleground and enter the Third Meridian?" Zhang Shen asked, getting straight to the point.

“A person! A person in a gray robe! But I forgot what he looked like, I forgot his name, and I forgot his aura. I only know that this person exists in my memory. If it weren't for him, I would be dead.” Jue Yi still didn't hide anything as he spoke. Perhaps for him, there was no need to hide what had happened back then.

When it's time to lay our cards on the table, we will.

"A gray-robed man?" Zhang Shen murmured. He didn't disbelieve Jue Yi's words; on the contrary, he fully believed them because only in this way could everything be explained clearly.

"Alright! Let's end this chat here! Now that everything has been resolved, neither you nor I should have any more worries. As for the grudges of the previous generation, our generation... must put an end to them." Jue Yi murmured, then released his powerful aura, comparable to that of a late-stage Heavenly Monarch.

"Hmph! That's true... Although you certainly have a reason to take revenge from any perspective, I can't just surrender like this! No matter how detestable that old guy is, I have no reason to hand over everything he created to someone else." As he spoke, Zhang Shen also circulated his true energy.

For a moment, two auras swirled in the air, making the sky seem even darker, foreshadowing that their battle would resume, and perhaps this time, they would not linger.

"One last question for you!" Jueyi said.

"What's the problem?"

"Besides our graves, there's something else I really don't understand: why did you break the ancestral teachings and go to communicate with people outside the Icefield Cave? I don't believe you have no ulterior motives!" Jueyi asked.

"Of course there's a purpose! I've said it before, we have no reason to protect that so-called Tree of Time, and my father just happens to share the same idea as me!" Zhang Shen replied simply.

But Jueyi retorted, "No! That shouldn't be the case. While you are despicable, you are certainly not this despicable. This can be seen from your father's desire to maintain his image as clan leader. Therefore, you must have some other purpose!"

Hearing this, Zhang Shen's lips twitched slightly, and his eyebrows twitched unconsciously before he laughed and said, "Hehehe! I really can't hide anything from you!"

Seeing Zhang Shen's attitude at this moment, Jue Yi did not interrupt, because he knew that Zhang Shen would continue to speak.

That's true. After a moment of silence, Zhang Shen continued, "Actually, I'm not very clear about the specific reasons, but my father contacted me before he disappeared and told me something."

"What is it?" Jue Yi pressed.

"Want to know? Hehehe! That's right! You, with your sense of righteousness, if you successfully defeat me, you will definitely become the new clan leader. So it's really necessary for you to know these things. But unfortunately, I'm not the kind of person who would help my enemy solve his worries, so..." Zhang Shen didn't continue speaking at this point, but even so, Jue Yi understood the meaning behind Zhang Shen's words.

"Will you only speak if I beat you?" Jueyi murmured.

“Yes! Losers have no reason to know so much. Only the winners, only those who stand at the end, have that right. You have been able to endure for so many years, so I believe you understand what I mean very well,” Zhang Shen said calmly.

At this moment, the two of them intensified their auras, seemingly distorting the space around them.

"Alright! Since that's the case, then I'll grant your wish!" As soon as he finished speaking, Jue Yi took the initiative to end the conversation. In fact, there was nothing more to talk about. With a flick of his left hand, countless floating stones appeared behind him. However, these stones were not the ordinary large stones from before. Instead, they quickly transformed into shapes. Upon closer inspection, they were clearly in the form of swords.

In short, countless stone swords filled the surroundings at a glance, like a rain of stone swords waiting for the final moment to fall, and the powerful force contained within them shook the heavens and earth.

Zhang Shen's eyes flashed coldly, showing no fear whatsoever. He also took action, his hands clasped together, his eyes gleaming. A power almost identical to that of a Heavenly Lord emanated from his body, rapidly gathering above his head and transforming into a huge golden mark.

It differs from the previous marks in that it has a shape, but this shape is not the shape of a sword, but a character, the character for sword.

"Qi transforms into characters, and characters become swords. It seems your Golden Character Sword God Technique is much stronger than your father's Great Spear Sword Life Technique!" Jue Yi recognized the technique Zhang Shen was using at a glance and murmured softly.

"You flatter me! Your Stone Heaven Sword Technique is just as formidable!" Zhang Shen replied indifferently.

"Is that so? Hehehe! Then let's see whose technique is stronger!" As soon as he finished speaking, Jue Yi's aura rose again, and in no time, he controlled the countless stone swords and charged towards Zhang Shen in front of him.

"With pleasure!" Zhang Shen responded to Jue Yi's words while directing the golden sword character in the sky to meet the oncoming countless stone swords.

At their level of cultivation, the outcome can no longer be determined by sheer numbers. Although Zhang Shen only has one golden sword character, Jue Yi has countless stone swords. In reality, if Jue Yi cannot break through the golden sword character with these stone swords, then he will absolutely be unable to harm Zhang Shen.

Because they are not using simple techniques to fight this battle, but rather using their own rules, what he needs to break is not the opponent's techniques, but... the opponent's rules.

Cultivators below the Transformation Realm cultivate spiritual power, which is the inherent potential of the human body. However, upon reaching the Transformation Realm, cultivators perceive the heavens and earth, then fuse the power of heaven and earth with their own spiritual power, thereby generating new power based on different insights. This is the rule.

The Heavenly Monarch, who has transcended the Transformation Realm, takes this power to a new level, achieving a new transformation. In the past, Transformation Realm cultivators fought by relying on the power of heaven and earth that they had comprehended, but the Heavenly Monarch is different. This realm has reached the point where one can control the power of heaven and earth.

For example, a cultivator who cultivates the power of fire can only use the power of fire in a simple way when he is below the Transformation Realm, and the power is only enough to burn mountains and destroy forests. However, when he is at the Transformation Realm, the power of fire is no longer his personal power, but borrows the power of heaven and earth. Therefore, this level of fire power is enough to dye the sky red and evaporate the sea.

But it's not the end, nor is the power of fire. Because the fire power at the Transcendent Realm is merely borrowed from the power of heaven and earth, it's not considered one's own power. No matter what, one cannot use this fire power to its fullest potential. That's why there are Heavenly Monarchs. Fire cultivators who reach the Heavenly Monarch Realm can use their own insights as a guide to manipulate the rules of fire. With every gesture, they can make the world ignite with intense flames. This is a form of control.

Simply put, the existence of the Heavenly Lord allows cultivators to go from borrowing the power of heaven and earth to controlling it. Although the power used is still the power of heaven and earth, the power is absolutely worlds apart.

The terror of a Heavenly Lord cannot be explained in just a few words, and the duel between two Heavenly Lord powerhouses is not something that can be easily decided, especially since Jue Yi and Zhang Shen are among the best of the Heavenly Lords.

At this moment, the golden sword character collided with countless stone swords, and the powerful energy fluctuations immediately swept through the entire Emperor Sword Clan, causing many houses to collapse, the ground to begin to crack, and some spaces to explode wildly. Fortunately, Jue Yi did not want to destroy the Icefield Cave Heaven, so he had known that such a battle would happen, and thus chose to use a barrier to create obstacles, firstly to prevent Zhang Shen from escaping, and secondly to isolate everything.

That's why people outside have no idea what's going on inside, and the power fluctuations inside can't possibly pass through this dark barrier to affect the outside, because this barrier is connected to Jueyi. Unless you defeat Jueyi or completely surpass him in power, this barrier will never disappear.

Dust flew everywhere, stones scattered, and a terrifying aura permeated the surroundings. Apart from the Heaven and Earth Profound Array and the Tomb of the Emperor Sword Clan, almost no part of the entire Emperor Sword Village was intact, demonstrating just how terrifying the aftershocks of their battle were.

Before the storm had subsided, the two of them moved swiftly, flying simultaneously into the sky indifferently, until they faced each other once more.

“Marked Sword, it seems the sword rules you wield are somewhat different from mine!” Jue Yi said, his eyes slightly twitching.