Zhao Duanghai’s Iron Spear tore a bloody path through the chaotic battle, its tip piercing the throats of three Heavy Armored Infantrymen.

Just as he was about to send a fourth Tower Shield flying, the cold gleam of a Battle Axe hacked toward his face.

The instant he blocked the blow with the shaft of his spear, the green bricks beneath his feet exploded into dust. His knee joints made a cringe-inducing grinding sound under the immense pressure.

"Courting death!"

Tuoba Lie suddenly sank his waist and dropped his stance, changing the force of his axe from a chop to a drag. Zhao Duanghai was pulled stumbling forward, his spear shaft scraping a shower of sparks from the blood groove of the Battle Axe.

An instant later, before Zhao Duanghai could recover his balance, Tuoba Lie’s Giant Axe came crashing down.

Looking at Zhao Duanghai, whom he had just cleaved in two, Tuoba Lie let out a disdainful sneer.

"A mere Blood Exchange Realm warrior dares..."

He suddenly raised his Giant Axe, his expression cold.

"By the Daqian Forbidden Martial Law, commoners are forbidden from practicing Martial Arts! A Martial Gall is like privately minting copper coins. Those who sever their own meridians before Midnight may be spared the punishment of being torn apart by chariots!"

Tuoba Lie’s rumbling voice was like muffled thunder, instantly echoing across the city walls.

"To hell with your grandmother!"

A white-haired old Martial Master, wielding a greatsaber, cut down a Daqian Soldier who was climbing up, then spat on the ground in Tuoba Lie’s direction.

Tuoba Lie’s gaze sharpened. Blood Qi rose from him like steaming mist, coiling around his body.

"Kill!"

The city wall suddenly began to tremble violently.

The Iron Butcher Cavalry began their charge, the thunder of their Armored Warhorses’ hooves like Celestial Thunder knocking at the gates.

The leading Cavalry General gripped his horse’s belly so tightly with his legs that the scale-armored steed foamed at the mouth, while the rider’s thigh muscles strained against his Iron Armor, creating ferocious bulges.

Javelins thrown by the Bei Liang Martial Artists struck the Horse Armor, their shafts snapping into three pieces from the impact.

Tuoba Lie leaped onto a watchtower, stepping on corpses. The path of his Battle Axe formed a net woven of cold light in the air.

An old instructor from a Bei Liang Martial Arts Hall blocked him with a Ring-Headed Saber. As the blades clashed, the muscles in the old man’s arms bulged like the gnarled roots of an old tree, but the flagstones beneath his feet cracked like a spiderweb.

The axe blade slid three inches down the saber, and then the steel spike at the end of the axe handle suddenly shot out like a striking viper, killing him instantly.

As the setting sun dyed the blood-soaked banners a dark red, the Bei Liang City Wall was already covered in the marks of axes.

Tuoba Lie unfastened his breastplate, revealing a body covered in scars. Every wound displayed a terrifying regenerative power; his pectoral muscles, torn open by spear tips, were visibly knitting themselves back together, and a gash left by a Horse-Cutting Saber was being squeezed into a thin line by his gnarled back muscles.

Below the walls, thirty Cloud Ladders were raised at once, while his Battle Axe chopped through the last of the resisting Bei Liang Death Warriors as if he were mincing meat. Each swing kicked up a spray of blood and bone fragments.

Suddenly, Tuoba Lie, standing on the battlements, turned his head to look at a hill two thousand yards outside the city. Several figures in black robes stood there.

He grinned, revealing a set of chillingly white teeth. He pointed his Giant Axe at them from afar, drew his other hand across his throat in a slicing motion, and then paid them no more mind.

"Arrogant!"

The Seventh Elder of the Nine Radiance Sect’s fists cracked inside his sleeves. Veins pulsed on his body, seeming to ring like gold striking jade. Just as he was about to charge forward, the Grand Elder’s withered palm pressed him back down.

The old man tapped the guard of the longsword at his waist.

SHING!

The Longsword flew three inches from its sheath on its own. A visible wisp of Sword Qi instantly shot forth, blasting toward the spot between Tuoba Lie’s eyes. It was as fast as Thunder Fire, so fast that Tuoba Lie didn’t even have time to react. The beam of Sword Aura struck him, knocking him back three steps with the sound of clashing metal, and he fell flat on his butt.

Tuoba Lie flew into a rage, but a tall general who had followed close behind forcefully held him back, preventing him from rushing forward.

The Grand Elder’s eyes flashed with a faint light, somewhat surprised that his opponent was completely unharmed.

"Let the Evil Qi of this Dragon Scale Guard nurture a bit longer. The Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit Breath is rare these days. Let it cultivate for three more days to help us refine our sect’s Sword Pills."

A sneer from beneath the Third Elder’s Profound Iron mask seemed to shake the pine needles from the trees. He flicked the Sword Scabbard at his waist, and the sea of clouds blanketing the mountaintop split in two. The shockwave made all the Daqian Soldiers on the city wall shudder.

"The Nine Shining Stars have not yet aligned. We’ll let you keep the head on your shoulders for now, inside that boorish sack of flesh."

His voice, wrapped in swirling snow, crashed against the city wall. Yet, upon touching Tuoba Lie’s Battle Armor, the words strangely condensed into icicles. A peculiar force instantly rushed into Tuoba Lie’s body, only to be washed away and swiftly dispelled by a surge of his own blood.

"So, it’s True Blood."

The Third Elder was somewhat surprised and gently shook his head.

"This Daqian Empire values bloodlines over the Martial Dao. Within their borders, to practice martial arts is to court death. They’ve mistaken the branch for the root."

"Let’s leave for now. Since that Empress doesn’t want to intervene, let Yanbei Dao City send its troops. The Nine Radiance Sect needs to preserve its strength; we’ll just offer minimal cooperation. With the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit on the rise, we need to hurry and open the Nine Glories Secret Realm. That Profound Daoist Sect, on the other hand, has gotten off easy."

Watching the figures on the hill depart like phantoms, Tuoba Lie couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

Those two attacks just now had left him seeing stars.

"Such lawless, defiant individuals should be the first ones we eradicate."

The tall, thin general beside him had a gloomy look on his face, tinged with mockery. "This Great Zhou exists in name only. The true rulers are these very sects."

"They’re strong," Tuoba Lie said, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows. ’If not for my True Blood’s focus on physical resilience,’ he thought, ’that wisp of Sword Aura would have torn anyone else in half like paper.’

"That’s why our Daqian topples mountains and shatters temples, forbidding all Martial Arts among the common folk."

The tall, thin general turned to look into the city, now filled with the smoke and flames of war. Cries, screams, and battle shouts wove together like a dark symphony.

Dragon Scale Guard heavy cavalry were using their Horse-Cutting Sabers to shear the flying eaves off an ancestral hall. The clatter of falling tiles and the wet thud of blades sinking into flesh seemed to create a strange, energetic resonance.

The general let out a satisfied hum from his throat, as if listening to the beat of iron-blooded war drums. "The day our royal banner flies over all Six Paths and Seventy-Two States... what is this Martial Dao...?"

He closed his eyes, savoring the moment, and cocked his head to listen. "Now that we, Daqian, have arrived, these sects, these Martial Artists... they will all be purged."

-----------------

In an underground chamber at Divine Weapon Ridge, a bare-chested Zhan Yan stood with his hair and beard bristling. His Heavy Hammer was covered in bits of flesh, and behind him, a group of women and children huddled in silence.

The gnarled muscles of his back revealed the patterns of his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength. Tendrils of Strength flowed along each bulging muscle, like serpents of blood.

However, a hideous, bloody gash marred his chest, which he had forcibly closed by contracting his muscles.

Once they were temporarily safe, he finally turned his head to look at a sturdy old man beside him.

It was the same old man Xu Yunfan had met at the sect gate when he first went to Divine Weapon Ridge.

"Junior Brother, I never thought you’d still be alive!"

Zhan Yan’s expression was a mixture of shock and joy. This was his youngest martial brother from his years at Divine Weapon Ridge, Lv Cheng.

His expression grew complex. He remembered a time when Lv Cheng’s handsome, spirited face had made all the female disciples of the Divine Weapon Ridge Medicine Valley stare. The threshold to his courtyard had been worn down by a constant stream of matchmakers.

But this stooped old man before him, with his tattered, fluttering robes and his ancient, weather-beaten face—where was the elegant grace of the young man in flowing sleeves?

Back then, he had been the very face of Divine Weapon Ridge. When he welcomed guests, countless female disciples from other sects would send flirtatious glances his way.

A voice like metal grinding on stone rumbled from his throat. "They all said you died in the Soldier Burning Pool at Divine Weapon Ridge. I can’t believe you’re still here, but..."

（Thanks for your support!）