The Upper Realm envoy… was dead!

  Slain on the spot—one sword, head severed!

  Even an Ascended Immortal from the Upper Realm had no time to react before flesh and primordial spirit were both cut away.

  The corpse fell coldly to the ground like a brilliant flower withering in an instant, landing with a dull thud.

  The attendant who had been fighting Lu Jiulian completely lost his mind!

  The middle-aged man’s eyes were bloodshot. His proud master, the noble Upper Realm envoy, had died just like that!

  At this moment, the radiant light around the envoy’s severed head finally dispersed. Without power to conceal it, his true appearance was revealed.

  Lu Jiulian withdrew his hand and stood calmly. His breathing was steady, his face unchanged—he still had strength to spare against this golden-body and primordial-spirit-flower Transcendent attendant.

  The attendant wanted to flee. Lu Jiulian did not stop him.

  Because he knew—this attendant would not get far.

  After all…

  Young Master Lu, with his slightly bad temper, had already appeared.

  BOOM!

  Above the heavens, every gaze locked in horror on the figure that had appeared beside the Dao Derivation Mirror.

  They watched the white-robed youth reach out and seize the mirror.

  With the Upper Realm envoy dead, the primordial spirit he had left inside the mirror could not resist Lu Fan. It was forcibly erased, and the mirror changed hands.

  At this moment, countless experts finally saw with their own eyes the mysterious Saint Lord Lu of the Five Phoenixes.

  The Sword King under the Blood-Robed General had slain the immortal envoy with one strike!

  Saint Lord Lu had appeared and seized the treasure mirror with a thought!

  If anyone claimed this wasn’t planned, they would never believe it.

  What were the odds?

  The moment the envoy fell, Saint Lord Lu appeared right beside the mirror to take it.

  Many Sixth-grade sacred ground and even Fifth-grade experts present hadn’t even noticed the mirror in time.

  Though not an offensive artifact, the Dao Derivation Mirror’s importance was undeniable.

  Silence blanketed the world.

  Then—uproar!

  Though Lu Fan had spoken to keep them, the Upper Realm envoy who had finally emerged from the ancient warship had been beheaded by the Sword King under the Blood-Robed General.

  Who would dare stay?

  Most experts only glanced at Lu Fan before ignoring him.

  What they feared was the skeletal daoist in tattered robes wielding a rusted sword—the Sword King!

  “Catastrophe in the Void Heaven! An ancient killer has awakened! Flee!”

  “Escape! The Upper Realm envoy is dead, an ancient killer has returned—the Void Heaven will become a bloodbath again!”

  “The Sword King has emerged. Can the Piano King, Shadow King, and War King be far behind?! The Blood-Robed General Gu Mangran must have revived!”

  No one paid Lu Fan any attention.

  Voices filled with terror of the Blood-Robed General rang out.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Warships and spirit vessels crushed the void. Ferocious beasts spread their wings, blotting out the sky.

  They fled the Void Heaven in panic and dread.

  The emaciated old daoist stood motionless in the void, rusted sword in hand, ghostly flames flickering in his empty sockets. His tattered robes fluttered in the wind as he stared at the fleeing experts and sacred grounds like a dried specimen.

  Lu Fan held the Dao Derivation Mirror, expression calm.

  He had been ignored, but he didn’t mind.

  He raised his hand. Array patterns appeared in his palm.

  Since you ignore me, don’t blame me for being ruthless.

  Lu Fan’s lips curved slightly.

  With a flick of his finger, the array pattern shot out.

  “None of you are leaving.”

  Seated in the Thousand-Blade Chair, silver blades cascaded like a galactic waterfall—dazzling and peerless.

  Hummm…

  In an instant—

  Mist rose, clouds churned.

  A terrifying grand array activated, expanding to cover a hundred thousand li beyond the Five Phoenixes.

  Every warship, spirit vessel, and beast was trapped within.

  “Saint Lord Lu, how bold!”

  “Leave some room for mercy! Don’t push us too far!”

  “Damn it! This is an Earth-tier grand array!”

  Curses, furious roars, and endless rage exploded from within the mist-shrouded array.

  Some experts were horrified, some furious, some twitching with dread.

  Who would have thought the oppressed side would turn the tables so completely?

  Trapping them and refusing to let them leave!

  Even the skeletal daoist was stunned, ghostly flames flickering faster in his sockets.

  He opened his mouth as if to speak.

  The general’s command had only been to kill the envoy.

  And he had used all his strength to do so.

  Among the experts present, many were no weaker than the envoy.

  Scaring them off was one thing—but Saint Lord Lu wanted to keep them all?

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  The general had just obtained a divine herb. He still needed time to refine and recover.

  Saint Lord Lu, don’t be too arrogant…

  But in the end, the daoist said nothing.

  Clang!

  Sword light swept across the sky. Countless sword qi crisscrossed the Void Heaven like flowing starlight.

  The daoist stood in the void behind Lu Fan, rusted sword in hand—as if backing him up.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Within the mist array—

  Roars rang out endlessly.

  Then—

  An Ascended Immortal tore through the mist like a true immortal emerging from the sea, shooting away as a streak of cyan light.

  “Sword King… Blood-Robed General! Since you have returned, great tribulation awaits!”

  “This world no longer has a place for you!”

  “Your sins from the past must be repaid!”

  BOOM!

  Their words thundered.

  Yet the Ascended Immortals who spoke did not linger—they fled as streaks of light.

  “They escaped?”

  Below—

  The middle-aged attendant who had emerged from the ancient warship trembled.

  The experts from Sixth- and Fifth-grade worlds had fled?!

  Abandoning their warships, spirit vessels, and beasts—just running for their lives?!

  The attendant’s heart panicked. He wanted to flee too—but how?

  He stood on the ruined plaza, looking around.

  His heart felt gripped by a giant hand.

  All around him were Five Phoenixes cultivators and the cold gazes of a hundred thousand troops.

  Overlord stood with axe and shield on his back, expression icy.

  Lu Jiulian stood calmly, watching him.

  The attendant felt as if he had fallen into a pit of vipers.

  “I… I am the attendant of the Upper Realm envoy!”

  His legs shook as he spoke.

  He suddenly looked up at Saint Lord Lu holding the Dao Derivation Mirror.

  “Saint Lord Lu! You cannot kill me!”

  He roared.

  “You killed the Upper Realm envoy! Someone must communicate with the Upper Realm!”

  “I… I can speak for you!”

  “To avoid great punishment!”

  He shouted in terror.

  He believed this was his only lifeline.

  “Even with the Blood-Robed General backing you?”

  “The Five Phoenixes compared to the Upper Realm is like a puddle to an ocean…”

  “Let me go! I can beg for mercy from the Upper Realm!”

  The auras around him faltered. Overlord, Jiang Li, and the others frowned, looking at Lu Fan.

  Indeed—the Upper Realm envoy alone had been like an immortal.

  If the Upper Realm truly attacked, what then?

  This decision was Lu Fan’s to make.

  Lu Fan toyed with the Dao Derivation Mirror, feeling the flowing dao essence within.

  The attendant’s words made him laugh.

  He glanced sideways at the man.

  “What are you?”

  The attendant’s face stiffened.

  “Kill him.”

  Lu Fan said calmly.

  This attendant had favored the enemy from the start of the tournament, yet dared speak of fairness?

  Lu Fan had placed several pieces on the board—like writing his name in a little black book.

  “No!”

  The attendant roared in shock. He hadn’t expected Lu Fan to disregard the Upper Realm entirely.

  BOOM!

  His mind trembled. Primordial spirit flower and golden body flower bloomed simultaneously.

  His body seemed ready to tear space and flee.

  But…

  To the Five Phoenixes cultivators, it was only a blur.

  The next moment, the skeletal daoist appeared behind him, rusted sword pressed against his neck.

  A bone-chilling aura of death spread from the attendant’s feet to his entire body.

  “Spare—”

  PFFT!

  The daoist’s sword swept across.

  The rusted blade looked corroded, but was incomparably sharp.

  It sliced through flesh. Blood sprayed.

  The attendant’s head flew.

  Blood qi was sucked into the rusted sword, forming a crimson rainbow that sprayed endlessly…

  The sword seemed to have a unique power.

  This strike severed not just the body but the primordial spirit’s head as well.

  The attendant’s headless corpse lost all aura and knelt coldly on the ground.

  Once untouchable and glorious—he died like the lowliest speck of dust in the Nine Heavens.

  Overlord, Jiang Li, Qi Liujia, and the others watched with complex emotions.

  Watching this hateful attendant die, they felt a long-suppressed breath finally released.

  Lu Fan toyed with the Dao Derivation Mirror, his gaze shifting to the rusted sword in the skeletal daoist’s hand.

  Hmm…

  This sword seemed quite extraordinary.

  Perhaps sensing Lu Fan’s gaze, the ghostly flames in the daoist’s sockets flickered faster.

  He subtly hid the sword behind his back, blocking Lu Fan’s view.

  Lu Fan was amused.

  Hiding it? Did Lu Ping’an lack a rusted sword?

  His gaze shifted to the grand array.

  And the Ascended Immortals who had torn through it and were fleeing into the distance.

  Lu Fan’s expression grew cold.

  “I said the Heaven and Earth Grand Tournament isn’t over—and you all just run?!”

  His voice thundered.

  The grand array began to change.

  Countless clouds gathered, forming a massive cloudy hand—like a palm that could cover the heavens.

  Ascended Immortals felt their hearts quake.

  Only a few from Fifth-grade worlds tore through the array with extreme methods and escaped.

  The rest were all dragged back.

  Even the Great Venerable of the Little Thunderclap Buddha World, ears twitching, was yanked back by the massive hand.

  His heart sank to the bottom.

  Saint Lord Lu… had too much ambition!

  He wanted to keep all these Ascended Immortals?!

  If not for fear of the Blood-Robed General Gu Mangran—that peerless killer—they would have long erupted in world-shaking attacks and crushed this arrogant Lu Fan!

  But seeing the skeletal daoist with the rusted sword, their hearts grew cold.

  Within the ancient tomb—

  Ghostly palaces, dense life essence surging.

  The ever-burning lamp flickered.

  As if witnessing everything on the blood-colored battlefield, faint laughter drifted from the depths.

  “This Young Master Lu…”

  The laughter carried appreciation and exhilaration.

  Bu Nanxing, sensing everything, trembled in fear.

  Saint Lord Lu… still as domineering as ever!

  Now not just crushing Transcendents—he was beating Ascended Immortals?!

  Lu Changkong laughed heartily.

  As expected—Lu Fan was still Lu Fan, petty and vengeful.

  …

  Within the churning mist array—

  Primordial spirit fluctuations surged.

  They spread across the heavens.

  Unable to break the array, they stopped struggling for now.

  They wanted to see what Saint Lord Lu was planning.

  He couldn’t kill them all—he didn’t have the power.

  There were many Ascended Immortals present. If truly pushed, they would unite.

  Unless the Blood-Robed General truly emerged, a single skeletal Sword King with dried-up life force was no threat.

  “The Heaven and Earth Grand Tournament is the grand event of the Nine Heavens. Why rush to leave? How could I, Lu, watch such an event go to waste? Wouldn’t that make me a sinner of the Nine Heavens?”

  “Now, I hold the Dao Derivation Mirror. So…”

  “The Heaven and Earth Grand Tournament continues.”

  Lu Fan’s voice rang out.

  Within the array, the trapped experts were stunned…

  Then dumbfounded.

  What?

  Continue the tournament?!

  It had already devolved into chaos—how could it continue?!

  The Great Venerable of the Little Thunderclap Buddha World fell silent, palms pressed together, Buddhist light shining through the mist as he stared at Lu Fan.

  He couldn’t understand what Lu Fan wanted.

  He had killed the Upper Realm envoy and all the attendants—trampling the Upper Realm’s dignity into the dirt.

  Shouldn’t he be sealing the world and preparing for the Upper Realm’s retaliation?

  Yet he boldly seized the mirror and wanted to restart the tournament…

  What was Lu Ping’an planning?!

  Not just the ancient Buddha—none of the sacred ground experts could understand.

  Tuoba and Qingling exchanged glances.

  Their lips twitched hard.

  “It’s said the Dao Derivation Mirror contains countless ownerless origin dao essences. Is Saint Lord Lu planning to use the tournament as an excuse to drain every last strand from the mirror… and fuse it into the Five Phoenixes?!”

  The thought grew uncontrollably.

  Madman!

  Tuoba and Qingling felt ice in their veins.

  Lu Ping’an truly was a madman!

  Within the array, auras surged.

  The skeletal daoist rose into the sky, rusted sword in hand, standing behind Lu Fan.

  Lu Fan sat in the Thousand-Blade Chair, stroking the Dao Derivation Mirror.

  His gaze pierced the array.

  The daoist’s presence made every expert’s aura falter.

  They seethed but dared not speak.

  Lu Fan smiled.

  His primordial spirit entered the mirror.

  Hummm…

  The mirror projected strands of origin dao essence.

  The phantoms of the Five Phoenixes and Star-Moon reappeared.

  “My Five Phoenixes’ little ones barely lost to the Star-Moon Saint Lord. We accept that. But now the Saint Lord is dead—dead men don’t fight. Who will Star-Moon send next?”

  “Will you fight?”

  “Dare you fight?”

  Lu Fan’s voice thundered.

  Within the array, clouds churned.

  Furious roars rose—clearly from Star-Moon experts pounding their warships.

  But no answer came.

  Lu Fan was in no rush.

  One hand propping his chin, the other toying with the mirror.

  Below—

  Five Phoenixes cultivators and the hundred thousand troops breathed rapidly, fists clenched, faces flushed with excitement.

  Domineering!

  This was their Young Master Lu!

  Utterly domineering!

  The moment Young Master Lu appeared, these once-arrogant outsiders didn’t dare speak!

  Low roars finally came from the array.

  “Star-Moon… surrenders!”

  A voice spoke for Star-Moon.

  Silence fell across the world.

  Lu Fan laughed.

  “Surrender?”

  “Granted.”

  Hummm…

  With Star-Moon’s surrender, the twenty staked strands in the mirror were stripped away and fully fused into the Five Phoenixes.

  Lu Fan felt it.

  The Five Phoenixes’ origin began to inscribe dao essence—twenty new strands.

  BOOM!

  Most importantly—

  Lu Fan’s eyes blazed with light.

  The stele in his soul vortex shone with countless rays, strengthening his soul.

  Through the system panel, he saw his Chaos Energy leap from 39 He to 59 He!

  And most crucially…

  His spiritual energy reserves, stuck at 9,999,999 strands…

  Began to loosen!

  BOOM!

  A vast ripple of energy surged from Lu Fan.

  In the Void Heaven—

  Terrifying pressure began to gather, accumulated from the Nine Heavens.

  “Thunder tribulation!”

  Below, Qi Liujia’s eyes narrowed.

  “The Five Phoenixes is not yet registered in the High Martial Registry… Adding twenty strands triggers a tribulation penalty!”

  Worry filled his face.

  Lu Fan, in white robes, looked up at the tribulation gathering above the Nine Heavens.

  He was not surprised.

  This tribulation was both for the inscribed dao essence…

  And for his own breakthrough in Qi Refinement.

  Within the array—

  Many experts were briefly surprised, then gloated.

  Even their laughter rang out unchecked.

  Hosting the tournament?

  Coveting origin dao essence without being registered—poison!

  Tribulation was coming—they couldn’t escape it!

  Keep acting tough!

  Now you’ve overplayed your hand!