In the blink of an eye, the dark shadows had drawn near—countless warriors clad in black, wrapped in soft armor, surrounded by a thick aura of demonic energy within three feet of their bodies. Their faces were fierce and brutal, unmistakably elite soldiers of the Demon Realm. At the front of the group was a black-robed man appearing in his forties, his expression cold and sinister. As they came within a hundred yards of the Sword Pavilion, he abruptly slowed and stopped midair. In a chilling voice, he declared:
"The Sword Emperor is mine to deal with. Kill all the rest. Leave no one alive."
He then spread his arms wide, sending a surge of demonic energy flooding forth like a tide, enveloping the soldiers behind him. Empowered by his presence, the Demon Realm warriors let out a furious roar and charged forward through the air.
Fengyun Wuji's heart trembled violently. He bellowed, "Who goes there?" But before he could get a response, the wave of black-clad warriors had already surged forth. He leapt into the air and shouted:
"Mahā Sword Formation!"
The situation was dire. The enemy numbered nearly ten thousand. Tardis and the others wore grim expressions. Hearing Fengyun Wuji's command, they drew their swords with a collective clang, and over seven thousand blades gleamed coldly under the moonlight.
"Diao'er, go summon Senior Dugu!" Fengyun Wuji cried to the heavens.
From above the clouds came a long, piercing screech as a massive shadow shot through the sky like a meteor, vanishing beyond the horizon.
Wind swirling around him, Fengyun Wuji's long hair rose without a breeze. Rage burned on his face.
"Tardis, you take command. Remember—do not seek glory, only survival. We cannot win this by brute force."
With that, he roared and surged into the sky. Arms spread wide like the wings of a great bird, radiant sword energy gathered densely around him. Seeing this, the black-robed man's expression changed. In a low voice, he said:
"I am the Demon Lord of the Dark Domain. Remember this well in the afterlife."
Then his form flickered like lightning, shooting toward Fengyun Wuji. From midair, he struck out with a palm:
"Take this! Nether Palm—one of the Dark Domain's Three Supreme Arts!"
A dark cloud exploded outward, transforming into an enormous black hand. The hand slammed down upon the void with a deafening boom, shaking the very air and sending a violent shockwave in all directions.
BOOM!
The sword energies still forming at Fengyun Wuji's sides were shattered by the blast, erupting into glimmering fragments before vanishing into the night. The Way of the Sword Emperor, his sword-controlling technique, had been broken for the first time. His heart jolted—against a master of this level, his mass sword formation was ineffective. Better to focus his strength into a single strike.
Though the two had yet to physically clash, their first exchange had already shaken the battlefield. And that brief moment was enough for the ten thousand Demon Realm warriors to crash into the defenders of the Sword Pavilion, splitting, encircling, and engaging them in brutal combat.
"Mahā Sword Formation!"
More than ten simultaneous shouts rang out. The Dark Domain Demon Lord looked down and saw the defenders—thousands of pale, white-clad warriors—suddenly regroup. Every seven of them formed a unit, their auras merging into sharp storms of sword energy. More than a hundred formations wove into a massive overarching matrix, a crisscross of sword light that filled the battlefield.
This formation—strange, dangerous, and impossibly sharp—was unlike anything the Demon Lord had ever seen. Though the Sword Pavilion warriors individually held only fifty thousand years of cultivation, far less than his own troops, once merged into formation, seven became one, and their strength multiplied. The formations now stood toe-to-toe with his demon soldiers.
In the Demon Realm, there were three Domain Lords. Beneath them, ten Demon Lords reigned. The Dark Domain Demon Lord was the strongest among those ten, his power nearing that of a Domain Lord. He cultivated the mysterious and deadly Three Supreme Arts of the Dark Domain and was brimming with confidence. Destroying a fledgling sword sect formed by new ascendants should have been nothing more than a casual flick of the wrist. The only minor nuisance—this so-called Sword Emperor—was his to handle.
In his mind, Fengyun Wuji had only recently ascended to the emperor rank. With his near-emperor-level power and unique techniques, the Demon Lord did not expect to defeat him outright, but believed it would be easy enough to stall him. As for the rest of the Sword Pavilion? His ten thousand demon soldiers should have swept through them effortlessly.
Yet, in just a few moments, the Demon Lord's expression shifted. He realized this battle would not be as easy as he had imagined.
Hundreds of Mahā Sword Formations broke apart the front ranks of the demon army, while other formations held off the reinforcements. To his surprise, the defenders were managing to resist the demons' frenzied assault.
Fengyun Wuji, too, understood the situation. The Sword Pavilion warriors, though organized, could not match the demons in raw strength. They could hold out for now, but soon, flaws would emerge. The Mahā Sword Formation, while powerful, consumed enormous amounts of true energy. And the Demon Realm had committed heavily to this assault—sending ten thousand elite soldiers to eradicate the Sword Domain showed just how determined they were to prevent it from rising to rival the Blade Domain.
The so-called Dark Domain Demon Lord was formidable, but Fengyun Wuji was confident he could hold him off. The priority was to stall for time—to distract the Demon Lord and kill as many of the invaders as possible. Once Senior Dugu arrived, with his unmatched strength, there was a chance he could wipe out the entire demon force alone. Fengyun Wuji knew full well—he himself could not match Dugu Wushang.
In a flash, he appeared above the heads of the demon soldiers. A piercing sword cry rang from his chest, and a streak of black light burst forth like a dragon, twisting through the sky before striking. Wherever it passed, demon soldiers fell like wheat before the scythe, blood blooming in the air.
Fengyun Wuji formed a sword seal with his right hand and swept it around him. His Fifth Sword Core spun outward at the speed of light, carving through flesh and bone alike. In an instant, hundreds more demons lay dead.
The Dark Domain Demon Lord hadn't anticipated such cunning. Instead of engaging him directly, Fengyun Wuji had turned to slaughter the demons at his rear. His swordsmanship was brutal, and in just a breath, hundreds of elite troops had fallen.
The Demon Lord's fury exploded—not at the loss of soldiers, but because Fengyun Wuji had dared to ignore him.
He was no less ruthless. Without chasing Fengyun Wuji, he shouted:
"Sword Emperor, if you insist on trickery, I shall match you in kind. I will slaughter every last one of your soldiers—leave you the only one standing—then let's see how you fight!"
As the words fell, he threw a punch:
"Take this—Earthbreaking Demon Fist, one of the Three Supreme Arts!"
His strike descended slowly, yet impossibly fast. As it extended a single foot, the air below twisted under immense pressure. Gale winds howled, and thousands of dark fists erupted in the void, descending like thunderbolts.
Fengyun Wuji's expression shifted. He knew that if this strike landed, his exhausted defenders—already barely holding the line—would stand no chance. The Mahā Sword Formation would shatter, and the tide of battle would be lost. Death would follow.
There was no time for hesitation.
He spared only a sliver of attention to control the Fifth Sword Core, leaving it to continue the slaughter. Then his entire body launched forward—racing into the sky beneath that hellish rain of demon fists...