Chapter 521: Chapter 166 Soul Path Wannian Long, Heavenly Dao Returns to True Intent.

Zhou Yan snorted coldly and said, “It’s laughable to the extreme. In the end, it’s nothing but respect for strength. In this world, what fairness can there be?

When I was damned by others, who came out to say ‘spare others when you can’?

Forget it, I understand these rules, I get it. According to your thoughts, I should feel honored and proud that the Saint kneeled before me.

But if I were to kneel to the Saint, that would be taken for granted, a trivial matter not worth mentioning, right?!”

“People who have spared you are numerous, but those whom you have not spared are even more so. You will understand this sentence later. That’s enough, you may step back.”

The Void Shadow of the Nine Reincarnations seemed not to have expected Zhou Yan to retort. Taken aback, he sighed and a beam of light sealed Zhou Yan, rendering him unable to speak further.

Yet, this beam of light was very gentle and bore no trace of harm; clearly, the other party was not angered, but seemingly wary of letting Zhou Yan continue speaking.

Outsiders didn’t know and thought that the light carried a suppressing force. Seeing Zhou Yan unable to even speak in an instant, naturally, some cultivators felt pleased.

Kong Ji and Wuxu Saint both sighed in relief. Although Zhou Yan had only suffered a minor punishment, they still felt extremely vindicated and couldn’t help but show more respect toward the Void Shadow of the Thunder Origin Sword God.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it was our shortsightedness that misled us previously, our rapid increase in strength inflated our confidence, and we disregarded everyone in the world. We were wrong and we sincerely apologize to everyone.”

The attitude shown by Kong Ji and Wuxu Saint this time was clearly very sincere, which made Zhou Yan watching this scene even more annoyed—although their apologies to him were perfunctory, their genuine apologies to others instantly turned their malign image around significantly, as not all genius cultivators can remain unmoved by Saints kneeling and apologizing.

A highly respected Saint bending down to kneel touched the hearts of most cultivators, so those slight grievances immediately dissipated into thin air.

Not only that, the respect these cultivators held for the Saints did not diminish due to the kneeling; instead, it grew stronger because many cultivators felt that, firstly, the attitude was very good and genuine, and secondly, it was a display of parental love from the Saint couple willing to kneel for their son, which also commanded respect and admiration.

Thus, Kong Ji and Wuxu, the Double Saints, not only avoided losing face this time, but they even earned the respect of most genius cultivators—a blessing in disguise.

Zhou Yan looked at the expressions of the cultivators under the battle platform and sighed inwardly, knowing that the matter had truly come to a close at this point. Even though he felt reluctant, the real Sovereigns had already made their move, and he had no way to interfere further.

From the perspective of a Sovereign, Zhou Yan could understand the actions of the Thunder Origin Sword God, but still, he felt very unwilling.

According to the intentions of the Thunder Origin Sword God’s Void Body, was he giving Ji Wu a way out?

Zhou Yan felt indignant but what could he do?

Let alone a Sword God, even Saints like Kong Ji and Wuxu could kill him with just a slap. They, too, had to kneel, and he, Zhou Yan, was just a minor cultivator at the peak of Sword Void Fifth Transformation—who would care?

Numerous grievances could only be transformed into a helpless sigh.

Other than becoming stronger, Zhou Yan found no other way to prevent such incidents from happening again.

“Zhou Yan, when you existed and perished as ‘Lee Sha,’ I lamented your talent, hence I gave you a chance, allowing you to achieve something; Bai Ying, originally with strength near that of the Divine, yet eventually perished, was able to continue the White Fox bloodline and live another life in the body of the White Fox, defying fate, also because you seized the opportunity I offered; now, Ji Wu’s talent is also quite remarkable, although his will has collapsed and his talent crumbled, he too should have a chance.

The Soul Path spans ten thousand years, Heavenly Tao returns to true intent.

I will take him to Thunder Flame Breaking Path Mountain to give him a chance to comprehend the ‘Breaking Dao.’ If he can grasp it, he will be able to establish anew after breaking down.

If he cannot comprehend, he will meet his end and vanish into ash.”

“Competition will continue in three days, proceed as it should.”

“To all in the Sword Tribulation Realm, undertake your tribulation outside your domain or manage your strength properly; otherwise, you might face Reincarnation Killing Dao that could annihilate you.”

“Sword Saint, beside the matter of establishing the academy for talents, if you interfere with the development of the Ancestor Star again, affecting the arrival of the Nine Origin Reincarnation, you will certainly face suppression.

With my methods, killing Saints is as easy as slicing through grass. I hope you do not challenge the authority and patience of the rule makers again.

As a Void Body, I’m still relatively easy to talk to. If the Sword God himself had come, there would not have been a second outcome—today, here, except for a few geniuses, all others would have been doomed.”

The Void Shadow issued a series of warnings and then swept Ji Wu away like a force of Space-Time.

The broken things around the battle platform were rejuvenated as if nurtured by divine dew, returning to their original state as if time had reversed.

Kong Ji, Wuxu, Yaochi Saint, and others, with complex expressions, transformed into streams of light without greeting the other cultivators, and swiftly left.

The Evil King stared intensely at Zhou Yan and Hou Chen not far from him, and after a long observation, he seemed to discover something, his eyes nearly shooting fire.

“Here, take your time and enjoy.”

Hou Chen, not intimidated at all, took a step forward and threw out the “Sword Illusion Realm” like it was trash.

The Sword Illusion Realm suddenly appeared in the Void, leaving many Cultivators, and even some Saints, witnessing a scene that nearly left them dumbfounded—Hou Chen was eating and throwing things around, while intermittently urinating in the Evil King’s palace and occasionally striking a smug pose towards the camera.

It was behavior fitting of a child, but all Cultivators knew well that Hou Chen was in fact just a six-year-old brat. However, the Evil King, faced with this scene, definitely couldn’t force a smile.

He stared intently at the Sword Illusion Realm, unable to suppress a mouthful of old blood from bursting out.

“Pfft—”

The blood sprayed more than three feet, and the Evil King bellowed, “Brat, you and your Master, just wait for this king!”

“Grandpa is waiting for you, dear grandson, come over and kowtow quickly!”

Hou Chen was extremely unruly and arrogant! Beside him, Xiong Ba and others couldn’t help but grin.

Even the Holy Daughter couldn’t help laughing a bit.

“This wild child…”

Yan Ran, Feng Jiu Xian, and other fairy-like extraordinary women such as Hou Ling’er couldn’t help but smile, secretly admiring in their hearts.

“Wish to marry the Holy Daughter? I’ll make sure you remember this!”

As a Saint, the Evil King had actually lost his temper with a child, totally losing face and dignity, which truly reflected how furious he had become.

Indeed, it’s understandable; any Saint would feel furious and heartbroken if the rare treasures they painstakingly collected over thousands, even close to ten thousand years, were being wasted and ruined like this.

The Evil King left, his demeanor utterly cold, not looking back even once, which made Zhou Yan feel somewhat like there was an ‘eerie coldness in the rushing river’ as he watched him leave.

…

Yao, Fairy Die, and other Saints who were supposed to leave, had left.

Eventually, Yao stayed behind.

Xiong Ba, Frost Snow Saint Sword, Wan Jian Tian, and Nine Origin powerful figures were all taken by Zhou Yan into the Purple Flame Void, and from there, directly transferred into the Yuan Ci Secret Realm.

With the restriction of the Thunder Origin Sword God, the three grand Saints had no way to interfere directly.

But if enemies were drawn into the Purple Flame Void, the three grand Saints could take action without concerns.

The other three needed to guard the Yuan Ci Secret Realm and set up Protective Arrays, which also required a lot of time, so they couldn’t be of much immediate help to Zhou Yan.

However, this barely matched Zhou Yan’s will, after all, in terms of Realm and Combat Power, one must advance to avoid regression and needs to endure hardship in cultivating.

How can one see a rainbow without enduring storms? If one were always under the protection of powerful Saints, then one could never fully grow and perfect oneself.

The decision of the Thunder Origin Sword God actually carried this meaning, and similarly, the restriction he placed on Kong Ji, Wu Xu, and other Saints had this portrayed intention.

After the Evil King left, all restrictions masked by the light on Zhou Yan had lifted, leaving him unharmed; realizing this, he gradually calmed down.

Now, in the arena, the only remaining Saints were Yao and Fairy Die, the lead figures for this event in the Southern Wilderness, and they were leaders of the Guanghan South Mansion level.

White Fox Bai Ying had regained her peak Sword Tribulation Realm strength, but the Ten Thousand Years Soul Path had separated from her, taken away by the Thunder Origin Sword God, putting her out of reach to suppress Saints any longer.

However, if she needed to transcendent the tribulation, making too much commotion would surely lead to suppression, so to undertake her tribulation, she would have to venture into the extraterrestrial starry sky to avoid causing destructive disasters to the Ancestor Star.

Zhou Yan pondered this as he saw the Battle Platforms in the Heaven and Earth vanish, and Yao suddenly appeared in the Void, looking down at the gathering of talented Cultivators, and said, “This contest of talented cultivators—of course, also a selection for the Holy Daughter’s hand in marriage. In the second round, the first place is Zhou Yan, second place is Ji Wu, third place Jia Yongheng. The previous third and those following will now move two places downwards. All you geniuses have no objections, right? Of course, if anyone still wants to challenge the first place position, they may do so now, and if you win, you shall become first.”

Yao’s question was met with silence from the Cultivators.

Because, challenging Zhou Yan was akin to seeking one’s demise.

Yao’s proposal was thus unanimously approved by the young cultivators, making Zhou Yan the uncontested victor of this second round.

At the same time, the immense reputation of Emperor Qi Sword Body Zhou Yan and Thunderflame Sword Body Zhou Yan began to spread across the Sword Burial Ancestor Star, and even beyond, to the outer domains.

The extraordinary genius, the ancient talent of the Dual Sword Body, with Combat Power Breaking Nine and at the peak of Sword Void Fifth Transformation capacity, capable in battling talents of Sword Tribulation First Refinement.

Such a prodigious talent, thrilling the ancient and the present, once revealed, immediately shocked the world.

…