The Zhu Xian Sword Emerges

A single leg…

Xiao Chen and Niu Ren felt not terror, but astonishment. In Xiao Chen's imagination, the burial shroud's violent trembling should have concealed something extraordinary beneath it—yet there was only a leg, a stone leg no longer than a thumb. It radiated no power, carried no sacred aura. It was utterly ordinary, completely unremarkable, betraying nothing of its nature.

Beside them, the Black Dragon King—keen and sensitive by nature—sheathed its dragon race holy sword. It eyed the stone leg beneath the foundation with suspicion, puzzled. It had clearly felt a tremor of dread moments ago, but now there was nothing.

Xiao Chen picked up the stone leg, blew off the dust and dirt, and held it in his palm, turning it over and over. The craftsmanship was crude; it could be recognized as the shape of a leg, but it was far from fine or precise.

The chubby Niu Ren was utterly disappointed. "When I thought about it, these three ancient temples seemed incredibly old—maybe even the place where King Kṣitigarbha once sat in meditation. If there was something under the foundation, it should have been an extraordinary object used to suppress this entire hell. But this is just… disappointing."

Xiao Chen said nothing. He put away the burial shroud and studied the stone leg carefully. He knew it must not be an ordinary object. When he had first found Suiren's Fire-Drill, had it not been the same? It had seemed as ordinary as could be, yet neither the Golden Divine Halberd nor the Dark-Iron Seal could force it out of his body.

"Let's go. Maybe it will prove useful later." Xiao Chen stored the stone leg and patted the chubby youth's shoulder.

In the following days, Xiao Chen and Niu Ren came to understand the chaos and complexity of the underworld. Many of the grand palaces covered unknown thousands of li, far more imposing than the Nether King's Hall of Prince Chu Jiang. It was clear that the underworld had become a training ground for peerless malevolent souls, where no rules or order existed—only strength commanded respect.

On the thirteenth day, in the dim, lightless hell, they skirted several ghost territories, evaded dozens of ferocious souls, and crossed a blood-colored wasteland into a desert.

Boundless. Endless.

Yet there, at the horizon, what seemed to be a heaven-piercing peak thrust into the ground, rising straight into the dark and endless firmament. A killing aura, sharp and terrible, surged skyward!

Even from far away, Xiao Chen and Niu Ren felt as though they had plunged into the bitter cold of a twelfth-month winter. Their entire bodies turned icy, and their breath condensed into white mist.

"It feels like a peerless凶刃 is pressed against my throat—I can hardly breathe," Niu Ren said, astonished.

Xiao Chen also sensed the extreme anomaly. Gazing at the piercing peak ahead, he said, "I feel as if this is a sword—a colossal, murderous sword whose killing intent shakes the heavens!"

"Hey… it really does look like one!" Niu Ren had a sudden revelation. "Let's go take a look. This Netherworld was refined by Ancestral God Suiren. Maybe some ancestral divine artifact was left here."

The two men and the dragon advanced slowly, braving the piercing killing aura. When they were less than three li away, they could clearly see that it was indeed a giant stone sword, three thousand meters tall, thrust straight into the blood-red wasteland.

It was hard to imagine how such a colossal stone sword had been carved, and even more puzzling that the blade was sharp as a true edge, exuding a sky-piercing murderous aura. When they approached within a li, it became extremely difficult to advance.

The killing aura had solidified into a real blade, pressing against their throats. Their skin stung as if cut by knives.

"How can this stone sword be so凶戾?" Niu Ren was deeply shaken.

Xiao Chen said gravely, "I don't think it's truly a stone sword. It looks more like a world-shaking dire weapon!"

Niu Ren pointed uncertainly at the giant stone sword, wreathed in gloomy mist. "There seem to be characters on the giant sword…"

Only at the Third Heaven of Spirit-Treasury could one discern faint, chiseled marks in the dim hell.

"Let's move a bit closer to see."

Unfortunately, when they were half a li from the sword, they could barely take another step. The murderous aura emanating from the giant stone sword had become fully tangible, forming an unbreachable, terrifying death field.

At this point, the Black Dragon King had no choice but to draw its dragon race holy sword. A beam of brilliant divine light floated above the two men and the dragon, and by its dim glow, they could clearly see three ancient carved characters on the giant stone sword: "Zhu Xian Jian"—Immortal-Slaying Sword.

"Holy sh—!" Niu Ren burst into profanity, his voice trembling. "We've run into the real big one… Is this a dream? It's the legendary… Zhu Xian Sword! Behind it… there's a living father of a monster!"

Although Xiao Chen was from the Mortal World, he had heard of the four peerless凶 swords—Zhu Xian, Lu Xian, Jue Xian, and Xian Xian. In the ancient great war, they had cut down the souls of countless immortals and gods. Their bloody fame shook heaven and earth; they stood among the foremost of the world's dire weapons.

"Hell, the real owner isn't also in this hell, is he?" Niu Ren felt cold sweat on his back, his scalp tingling. "That guy when he goes berserk… recognizes no kin, honors no heaven… respects no earth! He dares to draw his sword against even Ancestral Gods. He's the most reckless lord under heaven!"

The Black Dragon King's eyes blazed with sharp, fierce light, and a soaring battle intent rose within it. If not for being too young, it might already have wanted to wield the dragon race holy sword to test the legendary Zhu Xian Sword's power.

Tongtian—a name that even immortals dreaded.

In ages past, he had used the four凶 swords—Zhu Xian, Lu Xian, Jue Xian, Xian Xian—to challenge Ancestral God Youchao. Though he had been defeated without any suspense, his courage shook heaven and earth. In his fury, he slew gods and demons. Countless immortals and gods had died by his hand. The four Zhu Xian swords were refined entirely by soaking in divine blood. At the mere mention of Tongtian, all immortals and gods trembled.

Later, Tongtian gradually restrained his ferocity, grew less暴戾, and began taking many disciples, founding the renowned Jie Sect. His followers spread across the world.

To outsiders, Tongtian was the progenitor of god-slayers. To his disciples, he was a strict teacher and kind father. For his disciples, he had once stormed Vulture Peak in anger and split the Buddha's twelve-grade lotus throne. He had also once fought Laozi to a mutual defeat; in that exchange, he shook the Lu Xian Sword and severed a strand of Laozi's white beard.

It could be said that Tongtian was one of the most ruthless figures under heaven!

The chubby Niu Ren felt dizzy. "This ruthless one… how could he… have come to hell? Or is he still wandering nearby?"

Xiao Chen increasingly felt that the Heaven-Earth Furnace was extraordinary. Otherwise, why would Tongtian's Zhu Xian Sword be stationed here? He studied it carefully and thought, "This sword has not been moved for at least several thousand years. Look at the weathering on the stone…"

"Strange," Niu Ren said, puzzled. "The sword is thrust straight into the ground, as if it were sealed, or as if it were sealing something else. I can't quite figure it out."

At that moment, three objects on Xiao Chen's person began to tremble: the burial shroud, Suiren's Fire-Drill, and the stone leg—all seemed to sense something.

Finally, Suiren's Fire-Drill, which normally showed no exceptional properties, emerged from Xiao Chen's body and shot toward the great stone sword, leaving an afterimage behind. No energy fluctuations, no sacred aura—it was just a flying stone rod, utterly unremarkable. It flew straight toward the tip of the Zhu Xian Sword where it entered the ground.

Noiselessly, the Fire-Drill sank into the blood-red earth.

Then, the three-thousand-meter-high Zhu Xian Sword began to tremble violently. The blood-red ground boomed and rumbled.

"Fall back!"

Xiao Chen unfurled his Undying Wings, grabbed the chubby youth, and took to the air. The Black Dragon King turned into a streak of dark light and shot into the distance. Behind them, the fierce sword aura erupted like a volcanic explosion. Blazing beams swept across all directions, a thousand auspicious lights and ten thousand colored radiances illuminating the entire space of this hell.

The blood-red earth split apart continuously, as if a mountain collapse and tsunami had struck. The sky was completely covered by sword aura!

If Xiao Chen and the others had not been fast enough to reach a hundred li away, they would have been reduced to dust. The land around the Zhu Xian Sword had completely caved in and been destroyed.

The three-thousand-meter stone sword cracked and crumbled in large sections, revealing a blindingly brilliant light. The true body of the sword emerged—the peerless凶 blade was bright as a polished mirror! This was its true form.

A hundred li away, Xiao Chen and Niu Ren stared at each other. The Zhu Xian killing sword was truly terrifying. One could imagine the divine might of Tongtian wielding these four凶 swords.

"Isn't it just breaking free? Does it have to make such a big scene? What's there to be arrogant about? We fought before, and if we really went at it, who's to say which one would break first?"

Xiao Chen was astonished. He clearly heard the demonic voice of the Golden Divine Halberd. The凶 halberd had been awakened from its slumber by the Zhu Xian sword. Xiao Chen glanced at Niu Ren and saw that he had not heard the halberd's voice.

"We will meet again on the battlefield!" The Golden Divine Halberd spoke its final, dissatisfied words and fell back into slumber.

The three-thousand-meter-high Zhu Xian Sword, having shattered the earth, shot into the sky, transformed into a long rainbow, and shattered emptiness, vanishing from this Infernal Realm.

On that day, on the vast Eternal Continent, many cultivators felt a major upheaval at the northwestern border. Many experts sensed a towering sword aura piercing the clouds.

People of the Barbarian and Forest tribes saw a rainbow shoot up from their sacred mountain, dimming the sun and moon, paling the stars.

At the distant horizon, somewhere unknown, a colossal island floated in the void. It was brimming with life, with immortal mist swirling. The island was as vast as a floating continent.

It teemed with vitality: divine trees verdant and green, swaying with emerald light; immortal blossoms vying in beauty, a riot of purple and red, each blossom glittering translucently, flowing with various colors; sweet-scented herbs and lush greenery.

Fairy cranes danced, white apes frolicked, deer chewed lingzhi. There were also heavenly maidens flying, children concocting elixirs… truly a celestial paradise beyond the heavens.

An exceptionally handsome young man, clad in brocade, stood alone atop a cloud, gazing at the sky. He laughed heartily and stretched out his right hand. Instantly, a heaven-obscuring giant hand reached into the distance, shrouding that region of heaven and earth. The mass of earth-yellow hand seized the Zhu Xian Sword, which was trying to rush beyond the heavens. The three-thousand-meter-long凶 sword blazed with millions of beams of light and billions of auspicious rays, causing even the countless starlight in the sky to pale. It trembled violently, trying to escape the earth-yellow hand.

But no matter how it trembled, even with a million sword beams, it could not harm that great hand in the slightest. It was firmly grasped.

With force, the hand gripped the blade, utterly unafraid of the sharp edge. Like a giant dragon, it swiftly withdrew toward the vast floating island.

And so the Zhu Xian Sword was taken back by the handsome young man in brocade. Finally, he powerfully gripped the blade, and billions of minute lights surged into the sword body. The Zhu Xian Sword ceased its struggle, gradually calmed, and then shrank continuously.

The earth-yellow hand also shrank in the void, eventually becoming an ordinary hand, until it held the one-meter-long Zhu Xian凶 sword, flat in his palm.

"Congratulations, Master, on reclaiming the Zhu Xian!" Three beautiful women saluted the brocade-clad young man.

The handsome young man in brocade gave a silent nod. He lightly flicked the Zhu Xian sword, and a sound like a dragon's roar echoed clearly through the vast heavens. The peerless凶 sword turned into a beam of light and vanished into his body.

At the same time, the young man's eyes grew deep and profound. His body now seemed to have become the very firmament. He surveyed the world, a cold, sidelong glance at the endless void. A sharp battle intent swept across all directions.

"I, Tongtian, should send some disciples out…"

Back in the Heaven-Earth Furnace Hell, after the sky-high dust and smoke had settled, the chubby Niu Ren stood stunned, his mouth agape. The blood-red earth was shattered beyond recognition, as if an apocalyptic catastrophe had occurred—the land was entirely destroyed.

Suiren's Fire-Drill had flown back at some unknown time, lying quietly on the red dust and sand at Xiao Chen's feet. Beside it lay another stone leg, matching the one found under the ancient temple's foundation. They were perfectly symmetrical, forming the left and right legs.

Niu Ren gasped in shock. "All that commotion just to bring out a little stone leg? Was the Zhu Xian sword suppressing it? Or was it sealing the Zhu Xian sword?"

Xiao Chen calmly placed the two stone legs together. With a soft "ding," the two legs adhered like magnets, forming a complete lower body. Apart from that, they remained as ordinary and unremarkable as ever. But Xiao Chen treasured them and carefully put them away.