CHAPTER 421: CHAPTER 421: THE CRAZY LV FAMILY

"I know. Lv Yu, heal Yifeng," Lv Yi said indifferently. Behind him, a female Star Martial Warrior stepped up to Lv Yifeng’s side, placing her palm over his chest. A misty white light began to glow from Lv Yu’s hand.

This was a traditional Medical Star Martial Skill. When mastered to a high level, it could even bring the dead back to life or mend broken bones. However, it was not as efficient or as energy-sparing as Wang Lan’s healing.

Lv Yi slowly stood up, while Wang Lan was examining the golden sword hovering vertically in the air. What truly concerned Wang Lan, however, was not the golden sword itself, but the bronze funnel-like vessel beneath it.

As Lv Yi slowly approached the sword, he encountered an invisible barrier just three meters away, as if a rubber wall were blocking his path. At this moment, any trace of Lv Yi’s previous old age and frailty had vanished.

Star Power surged around him, and his aura burst forth powerfully.

Feeling Lv Yi’s aura, Qiu Bo’s expression changed dramatically. He quickly moved, shielding Yu Ruoyun and Wang Lan behind him, and stared at Lv Yi in shock.

"You... you’re also... a Half-step Star Soul?"

"Humph! Qiu Bo, has it been so long that even you’ve forgotten this old man? When I made my name, you brat were still in elementary school. Back then, I was one of Jade Country’s top Star Martial Warriors. Even though I had no title, my strength was not inferior to that of any Titled Strongman.

"After I took over the Lv Family, my fame gradually faded. I have been silent in the world of Star Martial Arts for forty years. Do all of you, who grew up hearing my name, think I’m utterly powerless?"

Faced with Lv Yi’s questioning, Qiu Bo’s expression shifted slightly.

Indeed, back in the day, Lv Yi had also been a dazzling figure renowned throughout Jade Country. There were no rumors of him being injured or having fallen; he had simply taken over as the head of the Lv Family and moved from the limelight into the shadows.

Forty years of silence did not mean forty years without achievement...

At the same moment, Qiu Bo began to consider more. Just how deep were the waters of a Star Martial Family? Especially one of these old, established Star Martial Families—how terrifying could they be?

If Lv Yi could be a Half-step Star Soul, couldn’t there be other old monsters among those undying elders? What about Yu Changdong, Yu Changhen, and Yu Canghai? Could they not possess the strength of the Five Emperors?

The Nangong Family, the North Sea Family, Situ, Sikong, Sima, and Dongfang—these top Star Martial Families of Jade Country—didn’t they have hidden, powerful strengths?

Half-step Star Soul—that was a supreme realm transcending Titled Strongmen, brushing against the Five Emperors Realm. A half-step upward made one superior; a full step forward was an ascension to the heavens.

As Lv Yi’s Star Power output intensified, the invisible, transparent barrier before him began to deform under the immense force. The hovering sword started to tremble slightly.

"Stop!" Suddenly, Wang Lan shouted sharply.

Lv Yi raised his head slightly, glancing at Wang Lan with disdain. "Although you are the son of the Flame Emperor and hold a noble status, a young man should prioritize assessing the situation wisely. This is a Different Dimensional Space; don’t cause trouble. I won’t stoop to arguing with a junior. If you don’t act sensibly, then don’t blame me for bullying the young.

"Don’t think you’re something special just because people call you a prodigy. If you want to be great, wait until you reach the Flame Emperor’s level. Right now, I can crush you at any time."

"This sword cannot be touched!" Wang Lan urgently exclaimed.

"Why?"

"The issue isn’t the sword, but the bronze vessel beneath it! The Divine Sword is suppressing the vessel; there must be something terrifying inside. Once the sealing Array is disturbed, the consequences will be unimaginable."

When Lv Yi made his move just now, no one had noticed that the hum emanating from the sword was not directed at him, but at the bronze vessel below. Otherwise, with the Divine Sword’s power, a mere Lv Yi wouldn’t have withstood even a gentle wisp of its Sword Qi.

"Our Lv Family has searched for the Sunlight Sword Pavilion for three thousand years... three thousand years! Three thousand years ago, the very first dynasty hadn’t even appeared. Now that we’ve found it, our sect’s destined opportunity lies before us. You’re telling me to give up? How could we possibly give up!"

BOOM!

Lv Yi’s Star Power suddenly erupted. No longer cautiously probing, he launched a fierce attack towards the invisible barrier. The moment the barrier was struck, the sword within the Array trembled slightly, sending a stream of Sword Qi rushing towards Lv Yi.

Lv Yi was greatly alarmed and hastily brought his hands together, clamping the Sword Qi between his palms. The appearance of this Sword Qi made everyone gasp. This Sword Qi... wasn’t it the same Sword Qi that saved them earlier? If so, that all-encompassing Sword Qi from before wasn’t unleashed by anyone—it came from this very sword!

While everyone was amazed by this Sword Qi, Wang Lan was more concerned about the funnel-shaped vessel under the ancient sword. With a faint sound, a crack suddenly appeared on the vessel, and a piece of bronze flaked off.

"Not good!" Wang Lan’s face changed drastically, and he quickly pulled Yu Ruoyun to retreat.

Lv Yi was still desperately resisting the Sword Qi’s assault. The terrifying energy shockwaves twisted the very fabric of space, and the raging energy prevented the Lv Family members from getting any closer.

Lv Yifeng, who had just stood up after his healing was complete, had a sharp gleam in his eyes. He suddenly lunged, striking Lv Yi’s back with his palm.

BOOM!

Caught off guard by the heavy blow, Lv Yi’s face instantly turned a ghastly purple, and he violently spewed out a mouthful of blood.

"Lv Yifeng, you—"

PFFT!

The Sword Qi instantly broke through Lv Yi’s defenses and plunged deep into his chest, burying itself to the hilt.

"Lv Yifeng..."

"Clan Leader... don’t blame me. You’re old, already seventy... At seventy, how many more years can you lead the family? As the saying goes, ’The new waves of the Yangtze River push the old waves ahead, a new generation replaces the old.’ But you? You still wanted to possess the divine artifact of the Sunlight Sword Pavilion?

"The divine artifact should be entrusted to someone younger, someone more capable of leading the family. This isn’t just my opinion; it’s the wish of the Lv Family. Look, when I ambushed you, not one of them tried to stop me."

Struggling, Lv Yi turned his head... only to be met by pairs of indifferent eyes.

Suddenly, Lv Yi recalled a documentary he had once seen as a child. On the savannah, a pride of lions was led by the lion king, who held supreme status. However, if the lion king aged and became too weak to lead the pride’s ascent, young male lions would challenge his authority and drive him out. The old lion king would either roam far from the tribe or be killed on the spot. A lion king cast out by its pride could only await death in the twilight of its life... At that moment, he felt like that abandoned lion king. Yet, his ousting was bewildering; he had lost everything without even a young lion challenging him, for no apparent reason.

PFFT!

With the last forceful spurt of vital blood, Lv Yi’s life force fled him. He slowly toppled over, his face bearing a mocking smile. This inscrutable smile sent shivers down Lv Yifeng’s spine.

Only Qiu Bo understood what Lv Yi was truly thinking.

Lv Yifeng had chosen the perfect moment to ambush, attacking Lv Yi while he was locked in a stalemate with the Sword Qi. This was Lv Yifeng’s only chance to successfully assassinate Lv Yi, a Half-step Star Soul warrior.

Therefore, Lv Yifeng seized the opportunity, disrupting Lv Yi’s power and allowing the Sword Qi to easily slay him.

But Lv Yifeng seemed to forget that Lv Yi was the strongest existence in the Lv Family. With Lv Yi alive, the Lv Family held an overwhelming advantage over Wang Lan’s group. Now, with Lv Yi dead, what made Lv Yifeng think he could stand against Qiu Bo, Wang Lan, and Yu Ruoyun?

That’s why Lv Yi had smiled.

He smiled at Lv Yifeng’s foolishness. It was a case of "one monk has water to drink, two monks have no water to drink"; by killing Lv Yi, Lv Yifeng himself might not get any "water"—the treasure—either.

BOOM!

The sudden catastrophe struck without warning.

Almost the instant Lv Yi hit the ground, before the smile on Lv Yifeng’s face could fully bloom, a loud bang erupted. The funnel-shaped vessel within the Array instantly exploded, and a cloud of black smoke rapidly spread, enveloping the area.

"Scatter quickly, it’s poisonous!" Wang Lan urgently shouted, as he, Qiu Bo, and Yu Ruoyun quickly retreated.

The black smoke was peculiar. Though seemingly insubstantial like mist, it remained gathered within the Array, gradually coalescing into a humanoid shape.

Seeing the figure formed by the black smoke, Wang Lan’s complexion changed drastically. The image before him was identical to the colossal skeleton he had mentally reconstructed from the remains on the mountainside.

"This is... the Demon Clan member whose skeleton we found on the mountainside!" Wang Lan swiftly cautioned.

The Demon Clan warrior stood motionless as if without consciousness, its eyes emitting a bewitching red glow. Suddenly, the Demon Clan warrior reached out and grasped the long sword before it.

BOOM!

The long sword, itself incredibly resilient, exploded the moment the Demon Clan warrior grasped it. A beam of Sword Qi shot out from the Divine Sword directly at Wang Lan.

How could one describe the speed of this Sword Qi? Not even Wang Lan, in his elevated Phoenix form, could react in time. By the time he realized he needed to react, the Sword Qi had already pierced into his forehead and disappeared.

"Wang Lan!" Yu Ruoyun looked as if her eyes would split. What chance of survival was there after being struck in the forehead by Sword Qi? But in an instant, Wang Lan appeared outwardly unharmed; his eyes simply glazed over, and he fell into a daze.

"Sect Master—the Demon Clan is attacking!"

"All disciples, heed my command! Form the Myriad Swords Array and slay the Heavenly Demon!"

A brutal battle unfolded in Wang Lan’s mind. Countless celestial cultivators wielding flying swords rushed towards a Time and Space Tunnel in the sky. Swarms of Demon Clan members surged into the Sunlight Sword Pavilion like locusts.

In the sky, corpses fell like rain.

Mountains crumbled, great rivers ceased to flow, a mist of blood filled the air, and rivers of blood flowed on the ground.

"Evil fiends, the Sunlight Sword Pavilion will fight you to the bitter end! Killing Immortal Sword Qi, Demon Subduing Slash!"

A mountain peak was savagely split apart. From its summit, mountains of bones tumbled into the chasm, paving the valley below with a sea of corpses and blood.

A beast hundreds of meters tall was slain by this ultimate attack—an attack that concentrated the Sunlight Sword Pavilion’s countless years of accumulated power—pinning it lifeless beneath the cliffs.

The white-haired young man looked back at his shattered sect, then waved his hand, sealing the mountain gate of the Sunlight Sword Pavilion. This must have been the scene the Lv Family’s ancestor witnessed upon arriving at the sect.

Then, a Giant Demon appeared, and the white-haired youth engaged it in fierce combat. The Giant Demon’s soul attempted to escape, but the blood-soaked youth sacrificed the funnel-like artifact to capture the demon’s soul, then suppressed it with the Demon-suppressing Sword at Red Maple Peak.

The young man slowly walked to the outside of the mountain gate and sat down cross-legged. Gradually, he passed away, his body turning into wisps of smoke that drifted towards the distant Demon-suppressing Sword.

The scenes in his mind felt as though eons had passed, yet in the outside world, it had all happened in the blink of an eye. Lv Yifeng, astonished, stared at the shattered Divine Sword. Then, his face contorted with rage as he pointed at Wang Lan.

"That’s the Sword Fetus of the Divine Sword! It belongs to our Lv Family! Hand it over!" His figure instantly transformed into a gust of wind, rushing towards Wang Lan. How could Qiu Bo, always wary of the Lv Family, let him succeed? With a swift palm strike, he blocked Lv Yifeng’s path.