The lone desert smoke and yellow sand filled the sky.

At this time, the air seemed to have solidified into a block of ice. The world was desolate, where only the lonely cold wind whimpered.

"You want to have my heart while you drink? Come! You want my Ancient Dragon Shield? Come and take it!" Ou Yangming looked at Dong Ruyu's falling body and shouted coldly.

He Jian's gaze was dull. Looking at Ou Yangming was like looking at a huge mountain shrouded in black mists. The young fellow always revealed only a part of himself as if he could not be seen through no matter what.

Especially when He Jian looked at Dong Ruyu, his heart was filled with terror.

There was only one thought left in his heart. 'Killing a Venerable One's son in front of him? isn't this... Too domineering?'

For a moment, he forgot to escape and just stood there in a daze.

Only when Lil' Lan's body moved did he regain his senses.

He hurriedly slapped his thigh and said anxiously, "Brother Yu, quickly leave. I have my own way to escape."

Before Ou Yangming could reply, another voice sounded.

"Leave? None of you can leave today!" Dong Chenyu had finally arrived. His body was emitting waves of intense cold air.

He wished that he could skin the 2 lowly humans in front of him and pull out their tendons. How could he let them leave just like that? He took a step forward and caught Dong Ruyu. As he moved his hand from top to bottom of the young master's face, he closed its wide-opened eyes.

The Venerable One said in a low voice, "Ruyu, don't worry. I'll make them pay with blood!"

Deep down, a volcano had erupted. Someone had actually killed his son in front of him. This was simply a slap to his face. Furthermore, the enemy's strength was forceful and could not be avoided. This made him so furious that every scale on his body stood up.

With a gentle wave of Dong Chenyu's right hand, Dong Ruyu's body burned up and turned into ashes, scattering into the yellow sand that filled the sky.

The Venerable One slid and turned into a bolt of blood-colored lightning as he chased after Ou Yangming and He Jian!

He Jian took a look behind him, and an anxious expression appeared on his face. He smiled bitterly and noted, "Brother Yu, take Lil' Lan and leave first. I'll hold him off."

Ou Yangming pondered for a moment and responded, "He's a Venerable One, so you can't stop him."

Hearing this, a surging sword intent burst out from He Jian's body. His face was full of arrogance as he explained, "I know a sword attack. It's incomplete, but it has the power to jump levels. Back then, with this move, I fought against a Venerable One as a Spiritualist and managed to escape." He paused before he continued, "But a single move will exhaust the spiritual Qi in my dantian." He was trying to explain why he did not use it when Ou Yangming was previously surrounded by hundreds of Blood Horned Dragons.

Indeed, that was the truth. Once he adopted that sword technique, he would have no fighting strength left.

He Jian's gaze turned, and his throat moved. He hesitated for a moment, and his voice was hoarse as he expressed, "Help me take good care of Lil' Lan. She's a poor child. Everything that happened today has dealt a huge blow to her but in this wretched world, who can do anything about it?? Who can be free from it?"

Ou Yangming did not know how to answer. He took a deep look at He Jian. He was also a decisive and straightforward person so without any hesitation, he nodded heavily. He waved his sleeve and took Lil' Lan, turning into a long streak of light and left in an instant.

He Jian laughed heartily and shouted, "Had Xu Aoran not been given to us by the heavens, mankind and the path of swords would walk in darkness forever! Come and fight! Come and fight!"

Looking at Ou Yangming's back view, he took a deep breath. No one knew what he was thinking about.

The shadows of 2 blood swords were reflected in his eyes. When he turned around, it was as if he had turned into a sharp blood sword that could pierce through the sky and shatter the stars.

It was so bright that people could not take their eyes off it. The longsword in his right hand let out waves of joyful sword rings.

"Fight!" He Jian stood in the air. His left hand took out an old wine flask from his interspatial bag while his right hand held the long sword.

His white robe fluttered in the wind, and his temperament was otherworldly. He stood alone in the world like a sword immortal who could split mountains and seas.

At this moment, even Dong Chenyu felt a strong sense of danger in his heart. It was as if he would die if he was even the slightest bit careless.

He actually only dared to watch Ou Yangming's back as he left and did not pursue him.

The Venerable One had a vague feeling that if he exposed his back in front of He Jian, he would surely die!

As soon as this feeling arose, his heart was filled with terror. He thought to himself, 'This human cultivator's only a top-grade Spiritualist, but he's so terrifying. How... How's this possible?'

In the Spiritual Realm, there was a saying that if one did not become a Venerable One, one would eventually become an ant. As compared to a Venerable One, a Spiritualist was like gravel or a star. The distance between the two was the entire sky that could never be crossed. Now, Dong Chenyu actually felt a strong sense of danger from He Jian. This was simply a fantasy. He refused to believe it no matter what, but the wariness in him made him choose not to pursue the young fellow.

He was slightly stunned for a moment, then he quickly collected his emotions and adjusted his Qi. His aura sank, and he sat upright.

Dong Chenyu opened his mouth and suddenly inhaled. A pitch-black and deep black hole appeared in the sky, sucking in all the spiritual Qi within 333 meters. They were rapidly compressed in his chest and abdomen, turning into numerous sharp spiritual Qi swords. He suddenly spat them out, and the swords shot out from his mouth. They blotted out the sky and the sun like the falling snow pressing down on the pine trees. They became more urgent. If that was all, it would have been fine but in the sky, hurricanes rose up from the ground. They spun around the spiritual Qi swords and pounced on He Jian. The world rumbled and exploded.

He Jian's beard and hair were white, and his sword intent condensed but did not disperse. He took a big gulp of liquor, and his movements were free and easy. He threw the flask down from the sky, and his left hand gently stroked the longsword.

Spiritual Qi was channeled to the tip of the sword, and he turned around to draw a circular sword arc. Subsequently, he shook out a big circle.

The sword-light condensed and did not disperse. It did not have a majestic, earth-shaking, and awe-inspiring domineering aura, but it carried the sense of returning to simplicity and that greatness came from simplicity.

At the same time, he lowered his body, and his back drew a shocking arc. His center of gravity swayed in his body like mercury. Each time the old man raised his hand, he could block a small spiritual Qi sword. He quickly retreated and swam away. He only defended and did not attack.

Despite that, there were too many sharp spiritual Qi swords. They were densely packed like fine raindrops, and they were everywhere.

After a short while, He Jian had fallen into a dangerous situation. Each time he raised his hand to counterattack, it was as if he was treading on thin ice.

Upon seeing this, Dong Chenyu's face revealed a look of joy. He let out a breath of cold air and thought to himself, 'He's only a top-grade Spiritualist. I was being too cautious. Now that I think about it, it made sense. Very few Spiritualists could even make a move against a Venerable One, let alone causing a life-or-death crisis to a Venerable One.

With that, he no longer held back. Every time he attacked, he would unleash his full power, causing waves of rumbling sounds.

Consequently, He Jian was even more miserable. He could only forcefully hold on and at the same time make preparations for which sword to slash out.

On the other side, Ou Yangming's speed was incredibly fast as he turned into a black whirlwind.

He lowered his body and with a few flashes, he landed in a black forest. The surroundings were dead silent, and there was only the sound of crying winds.

Lil' Lan lay on his back, her gaze a little dull. Today, her parents had died, and she no longer had shelter. The world in her heart had collapsed, such that it was only black and white.

Very soon, Ou Yangming found a small tree hole.

With a wave of his sleeve, many formation blades flew out like flowing lights. Soon enough, a Defensive Formation and an Illusory Formation were set up. After spending days and nights trying to figure out formation, his level of attainment in them became more profound. It was not much weaker than his achievements in equipment smithing.

He walked into the tree hole and squatted down. His voice was gentle as he said, "Lil' Lan, you stay here. I'll go and help Grandpa He, okay?"

Lil' Lan's eyes finally had a glimmer of light. Her little red face scrunched up together. She carefully pulled Ou Yangming's sleeve and expressed in a low voice, "I'm afraid of being alone in the dark. There are monsters in the dark..." Her eyes revealed fear as she was also at a loss about the unknown world. People were always afraid of change, not to mention that she was still so young and had just experienced a tragedy in the human world.

Ou Yangming's face was filled with bitterness. He was actually at a loss.

After thinking for a moment, he took out a lot of spirit ores and lit them up with the Heavenly Phoenix Fire. Instantly, the inside of the tree hole became bright.

He took out a windmill and handed it to Lil' Lan. "Here, this is for you. I'll be back once it has spun 200 times."

"Really?" Lil' Lan asked.

"Really."

Lil' Lan hesitated for a moment before her soft fingers let go of the corner of his shirt.

Ou Yangming left. He Jian's words sounded like his last words. The young fellow had a bad feeling in his heart, so he had to go. Besides, he felt like he would miss something if he did not go. This feeling was strange and difficult to describe with words.

Meanwhile, Lil' Lan stared at the windmill and carefully counted how many times it spun.

In the sky, He Jian's body was covered with fine sword marks and blood was oozing out.

He coughed heavily and covered his mouth with his hand. When he put his hand down, his palm was red.

The old man thought to himself, 'I'm old, I'm old. My Qi is blocked. I wanted to kill him with this sword, but it took me so long to adjust it.

All of a sudden, his eyes emitted a bright light like a blade or lightning.

With a shake of his arm, light shone on the longsword. The tadpole-like symbols flickered violently and shattered, turning into black marks that merged into the Green Edge Sword. The longsword seemed to have turned into a thread of starlight as if it was tainted with the power of ghosts and gods.

He Jian's eyes became sincere as if he was on a pilgrimage. There was also a faint look of madness in his eyes, and it seemed like he would die content in the evening after hearing about the path in the morning.

He exhaled lightly and roared at the sky, "This sword—Heaven-lifting!"

Before he could finish his words, he slashed out with his sword. A stern sword-light shot into the sky. Majestic sword Qi swept in all directions as though they wanted to tear the world into pieces. An invisible sword Qi shot into the sky, wanting to cut through the void. It was exceptionally sharp as if any obstructions could be cut down by this sword.

This was an undefeatable momentum that was piled up from innumerable victories and glory. There was nothing that could not be broken in the nine heavens and ten lands.

It was a kind of awe-inspiring domineering aura. As long as one had a sword in my hand, all things in the world could be cut apart.

One asked about the path but was cutting through the principles of the universe. It was one's dedication to the path.

With this slash, the sky seemed to darken. Even space itself rippled slightly.

This sword-light absorbed all the subtle lights in the sky.