World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 686: Shedding All This Blood for One Strike!

Withered-wood mask...

Lying in the lava, Chen Changfeng suppressed his aura with all his strength. In his heart, he repeated the incantation he had obtained from a Taiyi Golden Immortal. He kept seeing a female immortal before him, her cheeks marked by tears, as he waited for the mask to appear.

The killing intent raging within his heart crashed repeatedly against his Primordial Spirit. He could not even turn his awareness inward. Every fragment of his focus was used to stop his violent urges from devouring him completely. Covered in severe injuries and already in a critical condition, he only had enough strength for one last attack.

I have to cut down that mask! There's no room for failure!

As the grand elder of the Heavenly Yaohuo Sect, which was based in the Eastern Sky Region, the Golden Immortal had reached the highest ranks among cultivators of his level. Though he didn't stand at the absolute peak, he had at least reached the top of the gigantic cultivation pyramid that those on his level aimed for.

The nearby solar systems regarded him as a renowned expert who had cultivated for six hundred thousand years. Gentle and generous, he was also known for helping others in times of need, earning deep respect from the disciples of the Heavenly Yaohuo Sect. He even had a good reputation in the dozens of planets connected through primal qi passages.

Contrary to what everyone knew, however, Chen Changfeng was not as gentle and kind as he appeared.

Reaching the Golden Immortal Realm granted a cultivator the strange power to reshape their future. During the hundreds of thousands of years before he reached that realm, Chen Changfeng had struggled to survive like every other cultivator in the Eastern Sky Region.

Whenever word spread that a certain place produced precious materials or offered an easy way to obtain Spirit Stones, he would rush over along with countless other cultivators. After all, he needed treasures, fated opportunities, alchemical pills, and resources to support his cultivation. He had even turned his back against his own companions, who had traveled with him for years.

The Great Dao was indifferent. It recognized no division between righteousness and evil. Even those who were vicious beyond redemption or behaved with utter shamelessness could still comprehend the Great Dao without rejection.

From becoming an immortal and reaching the Primordial Immortal Realm to ascending to every subsequent realm, each step forward had left a trail of blood. The saber in his hand had taken more lives than he could count. He had long lost track of how many enemies he had created as well.

The endless space is far too crowded, Chen Changfeng often thought. We pursue the Dao simply to grow stronger, reach the Golden Immortal Realm, become a true immortal, and enjoy endless freedom. If those are the goals, then what does it matter if the road before me is bitter?

As long as I can become a Golden Immortal, everything would be worthwhile. Even if I die along the way, I will not resent anyone. After all, this is the path I have chosen from the very beginning.

Like many unaffiliated practitioners, he received invitations from several mid-sized celestial sects upon reaching the Heavenly Immortal Realm. A friend who had known him for years then introduced him to the Heavenly Yaohuo Sect, the sect master of which was a Golden Immortal. For Chen Changfeng, this sect offered a powerful foundation he could rely on during the long years of cultivation ahead.

The sect didn't change his life much from his wandering years, though. He had essentially just boarded a warship that sheltered him in exchange for using his power to protect others.

After cultivating and fighting for tens of thousands of years, the Heavenly Yaohuo Sect finally managed to take control of two celestial bodies. With the sect's full support, Chen Changfeng finally became a Golden Immortal, a moment he had been dreaming of for more than a hundred thousand years.

Everything changed from that moment onward. After all, his ascension meant he only had to release a trace of his pressure to maintain the stability of an entire planet.

The expansion of the Heavenly Yaohuo Sect soon reached its limit. Planets that were too far away could not be governed effectively. Even if branch palaces were established there, they eventually drifted away from the authority of the sect.

A Taiyi Golden Immortal and three Golden Immortals were enough to turn the Heavenly Yaohuo Sect into the ruler of the surrounding solar systems. Together, they moved three celestial bodies into the orbit of a sun, creating a stable mountain gate for the sect. From then on, Chen Changfeng rarely had to take matters into his own hands.

He noticed that the number of his enemies shrank as the years passed. Moreover, his fierce side disappeared after so many years without battle.

Attaining immortality gave him the chance to understand many things, making him calmer and detached. The desire to struggle for benefits slowly disappeared now that he had unlimited time to study his Great Dao.

The people he had killed were long forgotten. Those who once hated him no longer dared appear in the range of his immortal perception.

At some point, stories about his "kindness" began to spread. He once wielded a broad saber and left blood-stained footprints while climbing the mountain of cultivation. Now, having reached the summit, he donned an elegant robe and calmly accepted the admiration of strangers.

Such was the Golden Immortal Realm.

Those days of his lasted for more than four hundred thousand years. He had almost forgotten the name and cultivation of the last person he had killed.

It all ended when Qinghua's Daoist heritage appeared. His Great Dao of Life shook the entire Eastern Sky Region.

Golden Immortals could not just abandon their Dao and begin anew, even if they obtained that Great Dao. Still, if their sect could obtain it along with Qinghua's Daoist heritage, they would be able to easily produce a new top-tier expert. For a major sect such as the Heavenly Yaohuo Sect, the growth of which had already reached a bottleneck in the Eastern Sky Region, this opportunity was like a powerful stimulant.

At the time, Chen Changfeng remained in seclusion within the sect. Soon, however, a piece of grim news arrived: disaster had struck two of the disciples whom their sect had carefully nurtured. Both possessed exceptional aptitude. In only a short period of cultivation, they had already reached the late stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm. One even had the Golden Immortal Realm within reach.

The loss struck the sect heavily. Cultivators with such potential were extremely difficult to find, yet the sect had chosen to take the risk and send them into the array anyway. They also accepted that the two could end up failing. After all, the entire matter was essentially a gamble.

When Chen Changfeng asked how the two disciples had died, the answer he got didn't disturb his heart all that much. Dying in a dangerous place was a common occurrence in the endless space.

Several months later, another message reached their sect. The murderer who had killed their two disciples had been found. The culprit was still roaming in Qiling and openly provoking others.

The sect's fury erupted.

The sect's Taiyi Golden Immortal personally led Chen Changfeng, another Golden Immortal, and a lot of Heavenly Immortals into a massive teleportation array. They then rushed to this place.

In the end, they fell into a powerful being's trap, keeping them from leaving the desolate planet and forcing them to take part in this deadly wager.

They couldn't retreat, yet charging into the array meant facing a fiendish devil capable of controlling the mind. Confusion filled the mind of anyone who entered, driving them into committing an unrestrained slaughter.

Their Taiyi Golden Immortal finally said, "I have to take this gamble. Otherwise, we are simply waiting here to die."

Many of the trapped experts hesitated, yet nearly half still chose to enter the array and fight for a chance of survival. Since they were no match against the terrifying monster who had orchestrated this situation, their only hope of survival was to complete the wager he had imposed.

Those who decided to enter the array gathered their wits, considered every possible method, and worked together. They prepared calming incantations and celestial pills that could guard their Primordial Spirits. Their goal was simple: to have even just one Golden Immortal locate the array's guardian spirit and destroy him, essentially winning the wager.

They entered the array filled with confidence. After all, they believed that they had made thorough preparations.

However, once they stepped inside, a violent surge of killing intent caught them by surprise. It consumed dozens of Golden Immortals at once, making them attack everyone around them.

What kind of devilish force could dominate the mind so aggressively?

Chen Changfeng had no idea. As chaos erupted around him, he struggled to suppress the killing intent rising from his own heart. He fled to the side with all his strength, but a mind-controlled cultivator of nearly equal realm soon intercepted and dragged him into the raging battle.

For the first time in many years, he gripped his saber again. The killing intent in his heart burst free, turning his vision crimson.

Kill! I have gruelingly climbed to the Golden Immortal Realm through battles like this. Today, I will carve a path out of this place. I will cut down everyone before me and step toward an even higher level of the Dao! Guilt? Remorse? Time will wash away such feelings. As long as I survive—

"Elder Chen!"

The familiar voice pulled him back from the storm of killing intent. In shock, Chen Changfeng stared at the female Heavenly Immortal before him. He had thrust his saber through her chest.

His hands trembled.

Unable to withstand his full strength, the female immortal could only force a bleak smile. Her Primordial Spirit had already shattered.

Chen Changfeng's legs weakened. He dropped to his knees beside her. When he turned his head, he saw boiling lava surging all around. His immortal perception swept across the area, finding corpses scattered everywhere and several figures still fighting fiercely in the distance.

He took a deep breath. As the killing intent within him surged again, he recited a calming mantra and forced himself to rush toward the battlefield.

He had already killed countless people on his path to the Golden Immortal Realm, and too many people had already died on this battlefield. It didn't matter whether those he killed deserved death or whether the powerful being had also manipulated them. The justice of the slain had nothing to do with the killer. That was the rule of the endless space.

Now, all he could do was incapacitate the other cultivators and exchange the life of the masked man for their lives and those waiting outside the array. It was also the reason he had entered the array. As long as they remained alive, there would still be hope.

Once the guardian spirit of the array finally appeared, he would rise and strike. One decisive blow should be enough to kill him and save everyone who survived.

He succeeded.

Again and again, the image of the female Heavenly Immortal he had stabbed earlier appeared before his eyes, helping him resist the invading killing intent. He struck from the shadows and seriously wounded the few Golden Immortals still locked in battle, preventing them from slaughtering one another.

Afterward, he lay down among them. He endured his injuries and resisted the killing intent still boiling within his heart.

Once that guardian spirit appears, I will pour every bit of strength I have left into a single strike and end this with one blow. I just need the perfect opportunity!

Wait, that withered-wood mask... He's here!

The guardian spirit, whom the powerful being from earlier had ordered them to kill, appeared less than one hundred zhang away.

Die!

***

Blood burst from Chen Changfeng's saber as he swung it down at Wang Sheng. He had waited for this moment for so long.

The surrounding space pressed inward with crushing force. Through the distortion, Wang Sheng caught a glimpse of his broad-shouldered attacker, finding his eyes glowing crimson. He was still clearly under the influence of Ling Sheng's divine ability, but he managed to retain a trace of consciousness.

Wang Sheng's Dao Heart trembled not because of the violent blood light before him, but because of the despair he sensed from the towering Golden Immortal.

Crackle!

Electric arcs burst from his palm. Wang Sheng launched himself sharply to the left with a powerful leap, crushing the ground under him. Lightning surged around him as a sword phantasm enveloped in lightning rose into the air.

Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent! Lightning Flash!

The streak of lightning shot forward with incredible speed. However, the massive bloody saber cut through the lightning as it slithered across the ground.

Wang Sheng tumbled out from the shattered lightning. His gaze locked onto the bloody saber that was now only half a meter away from him.

Is this the power of a Golden Immortal?

Heavenly Immortals truly were no match against such powerful beings.

A faint yellow glow spread across his chest as a bronze mirror flew out from within his armor and positioned itself before him.

At that instant, Wang Sheng gripped a flying sword with his right hand and gathered lightning behind him in dense arcs. Looking at the bronze mirror before him, an inexplicable anger rose within his heart.

He waited for the moment the saber struck—that would be the perfect time for him to counterattack.