The “phoenix” was a legendary auspicious beast of royalty. In the tales, it possessed almost undying vitality.

The words “phoenix destroying” in the Phoenix Destroying Sword Manual meant that even the “phoenix” could be killed with a blow. It was possible to imagine the terrifying power and killing intent from a sword manual like this.

This sword manual’s moves were exceptionally straightforward. A large reason why many swordsmen of the Qin were honest and straightforward were due to their reverence for the strongest Qin emperor in history.

However, Emperor Yuanwu had gone into seclusion not long after he had ascended the throne. In the last decade or so, no one had seen him truly fight. So no one knew if he still primarily cultivated the Phoenix Destroying Sword Manual having reached realm eight.

A bright yellow longsword that appeared to be made out of jade appeared in Emperor Yuanwu’s hand.

He then swung the sword in an unusually direct manner towards the black pot covering Yan Ying.

This blow appeared simple, and most of the cultivators on the peak of Deer Mountain did not sense any strong movements of the primal energies of the universe. However, the few that were the strongest, shuddered in unison and were astounded within.

Emperor Chen of Han knew that Yan Ying was at his most dangerous moment. With a soft cough, his feet left the ground as he flew with the pill fire sword to stab towards Emperor Yuanwu.

A burst of inexplicable sound came from in front of him.

It sounded like the pebble someone had thrown from high up a set of stairs that was ceaselessly rolling downwards.

Barely inches before him, his pill fire sword, containing a hard to imagine power, silently came to an abrupt halt.

A bright barrier appeared in front of him and stopped his advance.

A bolt of pill fire appeared in front of him.

Then a second one, a third … numerous streaks of pillfire appeared in the air in front of him like red flowers blooming on a wall.

Many atop Deer Mountain sensed the changes in the air. They knew that at this moment, invisible to the naked eye, Emperor Chen of Han had not just struck one blow, but multiple. His meridians could only withstand such an explosion due to the Heaven Stealing Pill.

Yet, Emperor Chen of Han was still unable to thwart Emperor Yuanwu’s blow.

The barrier that had appeared in front of him was the sword light from Emperor Yuanwu’s blow.

“What kind of sword is this?”

Gasps sounded in waves.

People finally managed to see that diverse energies were coursing within Emperor Yuanwu’s yellow sword.

The barrier of light made from his sword light also had many lights of different intensities flashing within. These energies of varied strengths and lights felt like they came from many different cultivators, and even non-cultivators. However, these energies and lights were blended together to become this final sword move.

The yellow sword in Emperor Yuanwu’s hand did not slow at all as the tip stabbed into the black pot covering Yuanwu.

“The pill fire sword is not a true sword.”

As he stabbed the black pot, Emperor Yuanwu looked with some sympathy at Emperor Chen of Han. “The sword is a sharp item. Other items are powerful, but do not have the piercing power of a sword. The sword, even in ancient times, was the king of all weapons. Could anything rival it?” As he spoke, the black pot gave a cracking sound.

The yellow sword in his hand had pierced the black pot.

The black pot cracked, and revealed Yan Ying’s figure.

The sword continued to advance, and stabbed into Yan Ying’s body.

Other than the emperor of Qi, this was the first time most Qi cultivators were seeing Yan Ying. However, everyone knew what Yan Ying meant to the Qi Dynasty.

The moment the sword stabbed into Yan Ying’s body, a grieving wail erupted within the people of Qi.

There could not be a second Heaven Stealing Pill in the world. So, there could not be a second person in the world that could endure Emperor Yuanwu’s blow.

Even more so, Emperor Yuanwu’s strike was much stronger than Emperor Chen of Han’s previous blow.

Yan Ying’s body flew backwards. The yellow sword left his body and emitting a series of dissonant sounds.

No one knew if these sounds came from the energies within the sword, or were a result of the friction between the blade and Yan Ying’s body.

This sword had pierced through Yan Ying’s heart meridian and left behind a hole the size of a bowl. No one could survive such an injury.

The sorrow of the Qi people deepened.

Yan Ying’s expression remained calm. He had yet to die.

Suddenly, everybody held their breaths, not in disbelief and nervousness, but because the air at the peak of Deer Mountain had turned exceptionally dark and cold.

Because it was so dark and cold, it felt like the water in the deepest coffin of a tomb. People did not dare to touch it, much less breath it in.

Once again, Emperor Yuanwu’s eyes showed shock.

With the appearance of the Heaven Stealing Pill, the one who should have astounded him today should have been Emperor Chen of Han, but in reality, from the start until now, the one who disturbed the calm of his mind was this grandmaster of the Qi.

The extremely thick and yin cold energy came from Yan Ying’s body.

No blood spilled from the bowl-sized hole in his heart meridian. His flesh and bones did not appear like flesh and bones as they emitted a cold light. His heart meridian had disappeared under the sword. Naturally, his body could no longer beat, and his blood and energies no longer flowed.

At the same time, Yan Ying did not breathe.

His body gave off a hair-raising cold and dark presence. He seemed to have become a legendary … undying zombie.

As a realm eight cultivator, Emperor Yuanwu knew that tales of people dying and becoming the so-called zombies after their minds dissipated, was absurd.

As he held his sword in front of him, he frowned slightly. He said in a cold voice, “I had not imagined Mountain Yin Sect would have such means. I did not expect that you did not think about living from the start.”

Yan Ying’s voice sounded as even darker winds scraped across the mountain peak. “I am still living right now.”

The emperor of Qin had a grave expression as he bowed slightly to Yan Ying.

To an emperor, this kind of bow was extremely serious, especially when he wasn’t the emperor of the Qi Dynasty.

Emperor Yuanwu and Yan Ying’s conversation was profound and cryptic. Most people on the peak of Deer Mountain could not comprehend the meaning, but some still managed to grasp.

Strictly speaking, Yan Ying was not alive right now. In his body, yin energy had replaced the flow of his blood. His entire body had become a container. What he relied on to manipulate his vital energy was just his perception that was extraordinarily strong and overcame the terror of death.

But once the soul lost the nourishment of the body, the perception was like the mental power that existed within a flying sword. It could only be used up, and never to be replenished. Even the strongest perception would slowly fade in the end.

Yan Ying knew he was not a match for Emperor Yuanwu, but he still showed hostility towards Emperor Yuanwu.

From the moment he showed hostility towards Emperor Yuanwu, he had decided to use such a tactic. No matter if he won or lost this fight, he was fated to die. His resolve was enough to support him to the end of his battle with Emperor Yuanwu.

Emperor Chen of Han, due to the Heaven Stealing Pill, was difficult to klil.

At this time, Emperor Yuanwu’s two opponents appeared to be the undying.

More and more people reacted.

All of the Qi cultivators still felt grief inside, but their grief was mixed with courage.

From the time the Qin Dynasty had fought the Han, Zhao and Wei dynasties, Emperor Yuanwu had been hard to kill. Because he always had a group of the strongest cultivators in the world around him.

Yet, those great experts from the Ba Mountain Sword Field had gradually passed away.

Emperor Chen of Han and Yan Ying had been the most likely chance to kill Emperor Yuanwu.

Yan Ying raised his arm, and clapped his hands towards Emperor Yuanwu.

The yin energy accumulated in his body exploded from between his fingers.

This yin energy explosion would usually be enough to kill him, but he did not have to consider his own body at present.

Emperor Yuanwu swung his sword.

The yellow sword and Yan Ying’s palm made contact.

Countless threads of energy exploded between the blade and the palm, shooting outwards. The air was frozen in rays, turning into grey-black pillars of ice that fell to the ground. These pillars then turned into threads of black smoke that burned upwards, transforming into gusts of dark wind.

Unimaginable sword energy pierced Yan Ying’s palm. Two of his fingers were instantly cut off. His body gave off a cracking sound.

His body was cracking all over.

Yet, his gaze became colder and more focused.

In the span of a blink, his two fingers did not fall to the ground. Instead, they accelerated like a flying sword and pierced towards Emperor Yuanwu’s eyes.

This action was unspeakably tragic and stirring, an action that injured both sides.

Translator Ramblings: Yan Ying actually has a real historical event and an idiom associated with a pottery item. The idiom is “subdue the enemy with a wine vessel,” meaning using diplomacy, and not martial force, to force an enemy to retreat. The story is on Yan Ying’s Wikipedia page if anyone is interested.