The remaining force of the fierce, peerlessly sharp Sword Intent did not wane, driving straight toward the Nine Nether Elder behind.

For the first time, clear astonishment appeared on the Nine Nether Elder’s withered face.

Was the power of this Swordsmanship not a bit too overwhelmingly strong?

"Suppress the souls!"

At the last critical instant, the Nine Nether Elder hastily chanted an ancient incantation.

An ancient little cauldron, pitch-black all over, with three legs and two ears, shot out from the crown of his Celestial Spirit.

It grew as it met the wind, turning into a gloomy Soul-Suppressing Cauldron the size of a house, spinning rapidly as it hung down tens of thousands of strands of mountain-heavy Profound Yin Nether Qi, sheltering him and the Cloud Thunder Celestial Venerable’s Nascent Soul in his hand beneath it.

Boom!

The remaining power of the river-of-galaxies sword light slammed brutally into the curtain of Nether Qi hanging from the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.

This time, it was no longer a silent slicing, but an earth-shattering roar, as a violent shockwave of energy spread out in rings.

The Soul-Suppressing Cauldron shook violently, and the curtain of Profound Yin Nether Qi hanging down flickered unsteadily.

Behind the cauldron, the Nine Nether Elder’s figure trembled fiercely, as though struck by an invisible giant hammer; he let out a muffled groan, a wisp of dark, blackened blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, and even the ghostly qi surging around him fell into disorder for an instant.

He was actually forced back by this one sword, suffering a light wound.

Although he had successfully blocked this fatal strike and preserved the Cloud Thunder Celestial Venerable’s Nascent Soul, when the Nine Nether Elder looked at Xu Ping, his gaze was still filled with unconcealed shock and a faint trace of wariness.

"Young friend... you truly are a heaven-defying genius!"

The Nine Nether Elder wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice hoarse, carrying heartfelt astonishment and an indescribably complex emotion. "To push the Sword Dao to such a realm while still at Nascent Soul! This old man... is impressed!"

"Oh?"

Xu Ping’s forward-charging figure abruptly halted, like a Divine Sword that had been drawn halfway from its sheath and then froze, its edge concealed rather than shown, yet all the more dangerous.

His brows knitted tightly together, his gaze as icy as ten-thousand-year Profound Ice, locking firmly onto the Nine Nether Elder and the nearly-dying Nascent Soul in his hand. His voice carried undisguised questioning and a chilling killing intent, as he spoke word by word:

"Senior, what is the meaning of this?"

The frigid killing intent was almost tangible, as if it froze the very space around the Nine Nether Elder.

Ghostly qi surged around the Nine Nether Elder, rapidly mending his earlier light injuries and the shaken flow of his blood and qi. He tried to keep his tone calm: "Young Friend Xu, do not be so impatient."

"Do not be so impatient?"

Xu Ping let out a cold laugh. Not only did his aura show no sign of subsiding, it instead surged even more terrifyingly, like a volcano on the verge of erupting. His icy gaze seemed almost able to pierce straight through the Nine Nether Elder.

"Senior turns coat on the battlefield and stops me from slaying a great enemy—could it be that you intend to... break faith and betray our agreement?"

Facing Xu Ping’s undisguised killing intent and interrogation, the Nine Nether Elder did not become angry. Instead, he shook his head, his tone carrying a depth that was hard to fathom:

"Break faith and betray?"

"Young Friend Xu, you overstate it. I merely wish to spare him his life—for the time being."

"Spare him his life for the time being?"

Xu Ping’s eyes were as sharp as blades. "Today, Cloud Thunder Celestial Venerable must die by my hand. Whoever dares obstruct me is making themselves my enemy!"

Before his words had even finished echoing, the Canghua Divine Wood Sword in his hand let out another clear, ringing hum. Azure-violet sword light flickered in and out, locking firmly onto the Nine Nether Elder, as if a single wrong word would trigger another thunderous strike.

The blood and qi of his Nirvana Golden Body roared and rampaged within him, and the links to the Puppet Array were already drawn taut, ready to fire. He had fully prepared himself to rip open all pretense and fall out completely with this unfathomable old ghost.

Yet, faced with Xu Ping’s storm-like pressure of killing intent and threat, no trace of panic could be seen on the Nine Nether Elder’s withered face. Instead, an eerie smile appeared, as though everything lay within his grasp. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He no longer tried to argue or meet force with force. Instead, his lips moved slightly, and a strand of Divine Sense transmission, minute yet incomparably clear, exploded like thunder directly within the depths of Xu Ping’s Divine Soul:

"Young Friend Xu, why be so impulsive?"

"If you do not wish the Divinity Transformation old monsters of the other realms to all find out that on your body... there is a living Profound Celestial Spiritual Treasure growing, then this old man urges you—it would be better to calm yourself for now."

Boom!

This transmitted thought was like heavenly lightning from the Ninth Heaven, striking straight into Xu Ping’s mind.

"He really does know!!"

Xu Ping’s pupils contracted violently, and his heart sank heavily.

All his long-held suspicions and extreme vigilance were completely confirmed in this instant.

This old ghost had seen through the Profound Celestial Spiritual Treasure from the very beginning.

Their previous cooperation was nothing more than mutual exploitation and probing. Now that the game was up and the dagger revealed, the other side had finally dropped the disguise.

However, Xu Ping’s shock and alarm lasted only for a moment.

Not a flicker of change touched his expression; not even his eyes showed the slightest ripple, as if what he had heard were merely some trivial idle chatter.

His gaze remained icily fixed on the Nine Nether Elder, while the corner of his mouth instead curved into a mocking arc. He answered with Divine Sense transmission of his own, his tone calm yet as sharp as a needle’s tip meeting steel:

"Senior Emperor Xuan... truly worthy of being the peerless figure who dominated an era ten thousand years ago. This level of insight and scheming—this junior is impressed."

He directly laid bare the other’s identity.

"Only, I wonder—if the Divinity Transformation Dao friends of the other realms learned that Emperor Xuan, who should have been annihilated in body and soul ten thousand years ago, still has a remnant soul in existence, and has even re-cultivated on the Ghost Dao..."

"Would they perhaps find you, Senior, even more interesting?"

Hearing Xu Ping bluntly expose his background without the slightest politeness, the Nine Nether Elder—or rather, Emperor Xuan’s remnant soul—was momentarily stunned, the ghostfire deep in his eye sockets clearly flickering.

He had evidently not expected that Xu Ping’s growth in strength would be so terrifying, nor that the youth would know his own deepest secret so well.

But very soon, he regained that inscrutable bearing, smiling as he shook his head, his tone tinged with a faint sigh. "As expected... I still could not conceal it from you. Young Friend’s abilities far exceed this old man’s expectations."