That sentence was like a cold wind drifting through winter, effortlessly slipping into people’s clothes and chilling them to the bone.

Who was Chen Chao?

Was he just a ruthless martial man, infamous in the foreign lands, destroying sects with mere threats?

No one would think that way.

If anyone doubted, they could ask the former Sublime Bright, or the later Green Algae Sect and Glaze Temple.

Of these three sects, aside from the Green Algae Sect, which one was smaller than Three Streams Manor? Especially the Glaze Temple, that temple master there had long reached the end of Nepenthe, yet was he not killed by the martial man before them just like that?

Logically speaking, the current Three Streams Manor should be no different.

“Three Streams Manor disciples, follow me and the sect, in life and death together!”

Tu Beihai did not speak further. Since he had already laid his words bare, today was destined to become an irreconcilable-till-death situation. After setting down Zhang Nanting’s corpse, his large sleeves fluttered, and the air currents of the entire Three Streams Manor began to shift. From afar, countless streams of golden light rained down, surrounding the entire manor.

This was the most secretive grand array of Three Streams Manor, unused for countless years. Now that it was activated again, it was with the mindset of “better to shatter like jade than to survive like tile.”

Not far away, figures rushed in from all directions, their auras fluctuating, and countless different secret techniques began to manifest. For a moment, the sky above became dazzling, countless chaotic auras converging in one place.

Tu Beihai pushed off with his toes, gliding to a distance, doing his best to stay away from this peerless martial artist renowned for his physique.

Among the human cultivators, there was probably no one now who could gain an advantage over that young martial artist in terms of sheer physical strength.

Seeing that Three Streams Manor had already displayed the “better to be shattered jade than an unbroken tile” stance, the qi refiners here remained silent for a moment, and finally someone spoke up: “I, a disciple of South Heaven Sect, will lend a hand to Three Streams Manor, our path is not alone!”

As the South Heaven Sect qi refiner spoke, about a dozen people leapt up and joined the Three Streams Manor camp. However, the positions they took were all far in the back. Clearly, even if they wanted to stand with Three Streams Manor, they did not want to be the first to make a move.

After the South Heaven Sect qi refiners made their choice, many other qi refiners also made their decisions, several waves of qi refiners joining Three Streams Manor’s camp.

In the end, only a few qi refiners remained standing in place, seemingly hesitant.

Sage Bamboo Moon glanced at Chen Chao, then at the disciple beside her, and asked with her mind: “Are you old friends with this Lord Warden Commander?”

Liang Jinjin was startled, bit her lip, and did not reply.

“Jinjin, what is happening now concerns the survival of Pinecreek Mountain. What are you still hiding? You could drag the entire sect into the abyss.”

Sage Bamboo Moon’s expression was grave. She also had to make a decision now. If she chose wrongly, the blow to Pinecreek Mountain would be enormous.

"Back then in the desolate north, it was he who saved this disciple. This disciple..."

Liang Jinjin sighed, wanting to speak about the Qi Observing Technique. But after thinking, she shook her head and said nothing.

This matter still could not be revealed.

“He likes you?”

Sage Bamboo Moon asked directly. She had long noticed that Liang Jinjin had been somewhat distracted recently.

Liang Jinjin’s face flushed, but she quickly said, “No.”

However, when she spoke those two words, a fleeting trace of disappointment crossed her face.

Sage Bamboo Moon remained silent. If their connection was only this slight, then making a choice now was still difficult.

Just as Sage Bamboo Moon was thinking, Liang Jinjin suddenly heard a voice.

“You may stand with them. I won't make things difficult for you.”

The voice was incredibly gentle, like spring wind.

Even though it was the same person speaking two sentences, Liang Jinjin could not understand why the previous voice had been so cold, like winter wind, and now it was so gentle.

She could not help but glance at Chen Chao. The young man who was bare-chested easily reminded her of the avalanche that day.

After these days, although things had not changed completely, everything still felt somewhat hazy.

“Jinjin, let’s go.”

Sage Bamboo Moon made her decision and led her disciples toward Three Streams Manor. At this moment, if they chose Chen Chao and he was defeated afterward, Pinecreek Mountain would find it very difficult to hold its ground within the qi refiner lineage.

With Sage Bamboo Moon’s words, all the Pinecreek Mountain's qi refiners left the mountaintop and joined the Three Streams Manor camp. Only Liang Jinjin stood there, somewhat dazed, unwilling to move for a long while.

Sage Bamboo Moon said in a solemn voice, "Liang Jinjin!"

This voice finally pulled Liang Jinjin out of her daze. She glanced at Chen Chao, then gritted her teeth and walked off into the distance.

Chen Chao looked at this scene and involuntarily recalled the sight of his first meeting with a certain girl. It was almost the same choice, almost the same lack of choice, only the decisions the two of them made were utterly different.

Chen Chao shook his head and glanced at the other qi refiners at the mountaintop. At this moment, only about a dozen qi refiners from two or three sects chose neutrality, refusing to get involved.

In other words, what Chen Chao would face next was not just one sect or one faction, but the entire qi refiner lineage from both the northern and southern lands.

In other words, the qi refiners of the whole world were probably all standing opposite him now.

Chen Chao suddenly recalled a few words.

Enemy of the entire world.

It was probably something like that.

......

......

Three Streams Manor was already long broken and battered. Even if they managed to survive today, wanting to restore their former glory would probably take a hundred or two hundred years at least.

Of course, there was another possibility - that starting from today, Three Streams Manor would be completely erased from the world, and hundreds of years of Dao lineage would be lost.

As for whether Tu Beihai regretted scheming and plotting back then for the national fortune of the Great Liang Dynasty, if he had known it would come to this situation, naturally he would regret it. But if given the chance to do it all over again, he would certainly still do it.

Because he never would have imagined that Great Liang would become so towering and grand in the end.

There was no "if" in this world.

What had been done was done. Now, the only thing left was to carry it through to the end.

Without warning, Tu Beihai crushed a jade talisman hidden in his sleeve. The talisman shattered and turned into a streak of green light. At the same time, the entire Three Streams Manor suddenly resounded with the deep tolling of a bell.

A vast and heavy sound.

It was not some powerful killing artifact, nor could it be called mysterious. The talisman was merely connected to an ancient bell in the mountains. When the talisman broke, it was the same as striking the bell.

As for that ancient bell, which had not rung in many years and was already covered in vines, it had long been linked by secret methods to the qi refiners of Three Streams Manor who were secluding themselves at the threshold of life and death.

Any sect would certainly have some cultivators who went into seclusion in pursuit of higher realms. For these cultivators, apart from breaking through realms, all other sect matters could be ignored. They had long since sealed their divine senses. Without some special method, even if the sect were razed to the ground, they would not awaken.

And this bell was the means by which those people's minds were connected. When the bell rang, those cultivators who were in seclusion would awaken.

Of course, perhaps when the bell rang, some cultivators at a critical point in their cultivation would be disturbed and encounter problems. But in the current situation, no one was considering this issue anymore.

Three Streams Manor had already reached a life-and-death juncture. Who still worried about such things?

Chen Chao and everyone else heard this sound at the same time, and then sensed that within the mountain beneath their feet, some auras were reviving.

Chen Chao grinned, without the slightest hesitation, and stomped heavily.

The entire mountain shook once more. At Chen Chao's feet, a crack slowly formed, spreading forward. From within the fissure of the mountain, a snow-white giant python suddenly surged forth.

That snow-white giant python was several dozen feet long. When it burst out from the crack, the surrounding golden light swiftly rushed toward its body, making this snow-white giant python suddenly take on a sacred feeling.

As the giant python kept soaring toward the sky, Chen Chao suddenly reached out and grabbed its tail. Beneath the enormous python, Chen Chao looked as insignificant as an ant.

But when Chen Chao’s hands grasped the giant python, that hundreds-of-feet-long snow-white python could not break free, and even its upward momentum was forcibly halted by Chen Chao.

At this moment, Chen Chao’s arms tensed, as though every muscle in his body contained incomparable strength. With a sudden eruption, the snow-white giant python’s body was instantly pulled straight, and the giant python even let out a furious roar.

At the same time, the qi refiners of Three Streams Manor all rushed in, countless secret techniques of qi refiners raining down, instantly engulfing Chen Chao.

But that young martial artist who seemed to possess heaven-shaking strength let out a muffled grunt, then exerted force with his hands, pulling on the snow-white python’s tail, directly dragging the python down toward the mountain.

The giant python slammed heavily into the mountain, shaking the entire mountain ceaselessly. And along that line, a vast surge of qi spread outward. Along that line, every qi refiner who touched it instantly perished.

Afterward, that great lake exploded apart, sending water splashing into the sky, terrifying beyond compare.

Countless scales shot out from the body of the snow-white python, like countless flying swords crashing into the surroundings.

Chen Chao did not spare a glance at the python’s miserable state, instead leaping directly into the fissure.

He drew his saber.

Since the qi refiners of this mountain with the highest cultivation realms were here in seclusion, then he would begin the slaughter from here.

After several minutes, the qi refiners who had only just been startled by the python gradually regained their senses, and then witnessed a horrifying scene. From within that fissure, one human head after another was being tossed out.

Tu Beihai’s eyes nearly split apart. One must know that among the seniors cultivating in the mountain, there were even several existences who had already reached Nepenthe. In addition, there were many others attempting to break through this barrier. Even if half of them were lost, the remaining half should not have collapsed so quickly.

But the reality before them left no words to be said.

Even the Great Liang Emperor, who in previous years was acknowledged as a peerless martial artist without equal in the world, was likely not as terrifying as the Chen Chao before their eyes, right?

This young martial artist truly seemed like a god of slaughter.

Several minutes later, the bare-chested young martial artist leaped out from the fissure, holding in his hand a head with white hair, and landed atop the corpse of the giant python.

He casually tossed this white-haired head toward the crowd, smiling as he said, "Right now, there’s still a choice. Don’t seek your own death."