Outside the Western Mountains stood the largest and most prosperous human city in the region,

Ancient Moon City.

Spanning thirty thousand square miles, Ancient Moon City was a hub of activity where no commoners could be found among the travelers coming and going.

Its towering walls rose into the clouds, as hard as iron. On both sides of the city gate stood two enormous mechanical beasts, the guardian constructs of Ancient Moon City.

That day, the sun shone bright, the wind was gentle, and the people went about their daily routines as usual.

Then, the ground began to tremble. A deep rumbling sound echoed from the distant horizon.

The guards on the city wall looked westward, and there, a colossal shadow emerged.

The monstrous figure of Chaos appeared, radiating an overwhelming aura of ascension that churned across the heavens.

“Look, what is that!?” someone shouted in horror.

“A beast attack! Prepare for battle!”

“Quick! Activate the guardian beasts!”

By the time the group of adventurers reached the city gates, Ancient Moon City was already under full alert.

“Open the gates! Let us in!” they cried out.

“Did you bring that beast here!?” a voice thundered from atop the wall.

“Just open the gate first! We’ll explain once we’re inside!” the adventurers pleaded anxiously.

They turned to look behind them, Chaos’s immense form was already closing in.

“No! Your identities are unknown, you can’t be allowed in,” the guard on the wall refused coldly.

“We’ll deal with the beast first, then arrest and question you afterward.”

As he finished speaking, Chaos’s towering figure arrived.

The adventurers cowered in terror by the base of the gate, trembling.

Chaos was nearly as tall as the entire city wall. Its massive head spewed waves of heat like fire as it glared down at Ancient Moon City.

The two mechanical guardian beasts roared and lunged forward to attack.

Chaos raised its claws.

Bang! Bang!

With two effortless strikes, it smashed both guardians deep into the ground.

“Impossible! What kind of monster is that!?” someone shouted in disbelief.

“Hold the gate!” roared the City Lord, the first to regain composure. He began issuing commands, rallying everyone to defend.

Ancient Moon City was the largest human settlement in the Western Mountains, home to many cultivators, including powerful recluses.

Chaos extended its right claw and slammed it down on the city wall.

Boom!

The impact nearly toppled the structure, leaving a massive cratered claw mark.

Countless attacks rained down like a storm of arrows and energy blasts, but Chaos didn’t even flinch. It merely tilted its head and let out a thunderous roar, instantly stirring violent winds and lightning.

“Let me handle this!” a voice shouted.

An elderly man stepped forward, hands crackling with thunder.

He wore a black-and-white robe, his arms skeletal, his face thin and dry as old wood, yet his aura was fierce and boundless.

“Thunder Palm Zhou Mo!” someone exclaimed.

“Zhou Mo once hunted down the Four Great Fiends, his lightning stretched over three thousand miles and struck them all dead! If anyone can deal with this, it’s him!”

Zhou Mo stepped into the air, locking onto Chaos’s eyes. His right hand surged with violet lightning.

“Die!” he shouted, hurling a torrent of thunder straight into Chaos’s face.

Lightning exploded before the beast’s eyes.

The eyes were the weakest part of any living creature, that was Zhou Mo’s reasoning.

But Chaos didn’t even blink. It stood still, unbothered as the lightning burst against it.

Then, the thin, translucent wings on its back stirred gently.

A single flap released a gust so powerful that it sent Zhou Mo hurtling through the air.

“Wh-what…”

Everyone inside the city looked at one another, frozen in fear.

Chaos resumed its assault on the wall. Panic spread within Ancient Moon City; even its steellike defenses wouldn’t hold much longer.

Then, suddenly, a brilliant sword light cut across the sky.

The sword aura split the heavens in half, cleaving through the firmament and striking Chaos squarely.

The explosion of sword energy echoed across the land, leaving its mark upon the earth.

As the light faded, all eyes turned upward.

From the distant horizon, dozens of figures soared forth on flying swords, each robed in white, their sword intent interwoven like a storm, their bearing noble and ethereal.

“It’s the people of Sword Heaven!” someone cried out from the wall.

“We’re saved! Sword Heaven is the strongest sect in the Western Mountains!

Their Sword Sovereign, Yin Ruochu, is one of the six greatest masters of our age, the legendary Six Sovereigns!”

“Yes! The Six Sovereigns are the mightiest of all, each one at the peak of the God Meridian Realm!”

Excitement rippled through the crowd as hope returned.

The Sword Heaven cultivators descended, swords gleaming. At their head stood Yin Ruochu.

He wore a sword robe woven with yin and yang, his long black hair streaked with white, falling neatly behind him.

The sword beneath his feet glowed with black and white light, like a living Yin-Yang symbol.

He moved through the air in flashes of light, waves of sword energy stirring the heavens.

In an instant, he arrived before Ancient Moon City.

“Greetings, Master Yin of Sword Heaven!” the people of Ancient Moon City bowed deeply.

The Six Sovereigns were living legends, reverence for them was only natural.

Yin Ruochu gestured for them to rise.

A Sword Heaven disciple stepped forward, pointing his sword at Chaos.

“Beast! You stand before disciples of Sword Heaven! Name yourself! Why do you invade Ancient Moon City!?”

Chaos lifted its head, eyes burning with thunder, and let out a low laugh.

“I’m not here to conquer a single city,” it said. “I’m here to rule the entire world.”

“Arrogant cur!” the disciple snapped, raising his sword to strike, but Yin Ruochu raised a hand to stop him.

“Ming’er, stand down.”

Yin Ruochu’s gaze darkened as he studied Chaos.

The pressure emanating from the beast was immense, waves of power that battered the air like crashing tides, shaking the very void around them.

That force carried the unmistakable weight of immortal might.

Within its form, power gathered and flowed like a complete world unto itself, simple, yet infinite.

Even Yin Ruochu, who had seen much in his long life, could not discern the creature’s origin or true cultivation.

But one thing was clear, the pressure it exuded surpassed even that of his fellow Sovereigns.

“Which ancient beast are you?” Yin Ruochu asked solemnly.

He had traversed half the God World but had never encountered such a being.

“There’s no need for talk,” Chaos said coldly. “Today, Ancient Moon City will fall. From here, the entire God World will burn.”

As it spoke, Chaos roared, bolts of thunder erupted from its jaws, lashing toward Yin Ruochu.

“Sword, come!” Yin Ruochu commanded softly.

A tide of sword intent flooded the sky, shattering the thunder into fragments.

He drew his sword and turned to the others.

“Stand back. This battle is mine alone.”

The disciples hesitated briefly, then obeyed, retreating behind the walls of Ancient Moon City.