Therefore, Mo Shan didn't recognize Xu Lai and naturally felt no fear.

In the annals of the Ancient Demon Clan, they had reigned supreme for several eras, and their clan had even produced a Quasi-Emperor. Aside from the war of annihilation ten thousand years ago, they had rarely ever suffered a significant loss.

He stopped suppressing his Boundary, and the endless killing intent surrounding him coalesced into a thousand-meter-long greatsword that shattered the void itself.

The Heavenly Dao of Earth was on the verge of collapse. How could another Cultivator be making a move so close to the absolute limit? It zipped over, intending to expel the transgressor from Earth. But when it saw clearly what was happening on the ground... it vanished again with a *whoosh*.

The Heavenly Dao of Earth wept tears of despair. I'm just a child! I only gained consciousness a few years ago! Lord Supreme Emperor, I'm begging you, please spare me...

"Hm?" Mo Shan's senses went on high alert.

He had just felt a terrifying pressure descend upon him, only for it to vanish in an instant. He couldn't help but sneer, "So, Xu Lai, you have help!"

Tan Chang, Jiang Tengyun, and the others hadn't heard the exchange between Xu Lai and Mo Shan. Hearing the shout about a "helper," Tan Chang mistakenly assumed Mo Shan was referring to the senior, Flower Fairy.

At that moment, Tan Chang roared with laughter. "Nonsense! Surrender now if you don't want to die! Our senior can annihilate you with a single finger!"

Mo Shan's expression darkened. He bellowed, "You want a fight? Then let's fight! Demon Sword—Slash!"

This slash was Mo Shan's ultimate attack. It was also the most powerful strike that Earth's Heavenly Dao could tolerate; anything beyond this limit would trigger its intervention and result in expulsion. This was the threshold Mo Shan had painstakingly tested and confirmed over his century on Earth.

A cold sneer spread across Mo Shan's face. Xu Lai had two choices: either reveal power exceeding the limit and be expelled by the Heavenly Dao, or die beneath the Demon Sword.

The thousand-meter greatsword descended, piercing downward point-first.

Its descent was deceptively slow, yet everyone at the heart of the battlefield was frozen in place, unable to move a muscle. This included Seventh-Grade Martial Ancestor Tan Chang and even Jiang Guoyuan, a Ninth-Grade early-stage Martial Ancestor.

It made their scalps tingle with terror! They stared in disbelief at the attack in the sky, a strike that seemed capable of destroying the heavens and eradicating the earth. Was this a technique a human could possibly wield?

Terrifying. It was simply too terrifying!

Beneath the edge of the blade, everyone's breathing grew labored. They could clearly feel the Spiritual Energy being siphoned from their bodies, and even their very lifespans were draining away. The sensation was horrifying, but they were powerless to resist. They could only watch as death drew ever closer.

"This sword... it seems a bit familiar," Xu Lai remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Heh heh..." Mo Shan laughed wildly. "This is a natal Cultivation Technique created by the War God of my Demon Clan, Mozhan himself! This sword possesses a spirit. It feeds on blood and life force to grow endlessly stronger, and it can cleave through anything in this world!"

"So, Mozhan didn't die after all," Xu Lai murmured, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He remembered that one. During the great war ten thousand years ago, Mozhan, as the leader of the three thousand demon generals, had been the fastest to flee. He'd taken a blow from The Seventh Divine General, yet he had somehow survived...

"Insolence! How dare you disrespect Ancestor Mozhan!" Mo Shan grew even more furious. His hands formed a seal, and the Demon Sword's descent accelerated, plummeting in an instant.

The target was only Xu Lai!

"Die!" Mo Shan roared. He could already envision Xu Lai being sucked dry, reduced to a withered husk, trembling in terror as he begged for mercy. He had witnessed this exact scene far too many times.

DING—!

A sharp, clear sound rang out, stunning everyone present.

The sword, shimmering with deadly light and carrying world-ending pressure, had been effortlessly caught between two of Xu Lai's fingers.

Mo Shan was speechless, his eyes wide with disbelief. How... How is this possible? This is the Demon Sword! It has slaughtered wantonly and consumed at least ten thousand lives! On this Earth, it should be invincible!

"This sword is inadequate," Xu Lai said, shaking his head. "Its attack speed is too slow, and it's too large a target. Most importantly, your so-called 'sword spirit' is nothing more than a chaotic mass of vengeful souls trapped within."

Mo Shan was so enraged he nearly coughed up blood. Just as he was about to erupt in a stream of curses, Xu Lai extended his left hand and casually flicked the body of the blade.

TING!

A clear sound, like a small bell ringing, echoed. Mo Shan became completely unhinged. His life-bound Demon Sword... it was rapidly shrinking, becoming a normal-sized sword less than a meter in length!

Xu Lai casually stroked the blade, clicking his tongue with a hint of disdain. "The material is quite poor. I suppose you could begrudgingly call this a Spiritual Artifact."

"XU LAI!" Mo Shan trembled with rage. He had spent a full three hundred years, staining his hands with the blood of countless victims, to nurture his Demon Sword to its thousand-meter length. And in a single second, Xu Lai had made his three hundred years of effort vanish like smoke!

As the saying goes, to ruin a man's fortune is like murdering his parents. Was destroying his Demon Sword any different? And as for calling it a Spiritual Artifact... that was a complete joke!

Artifact Refining was divided into ten tiers. Setting aside worthless weapons, Cultivators generally used Mortal Instruments. Above those were Treasure Instruments and Heavenly Instruments. Spiritual Artifacts, however, were a huge leap above Heavenly Instruments. This was because Spiritual Artifacts already possessed a true spirit of their own. A single Spiritual Artifact could increase a Cultivator's combat power by thirty percent!

From the level of Spiritual Artifacts onward, every increase in tier represented a qualitative leap in power.

Even though Mo Shan was at the peak of the Golden Core Realm, the Demon Sword he had condensed with his life force was merely a Treasure Instrument.

The Immortal Domain was a melting pot of countless races and sects from across the Universe, and it had produced numerous Artifact Refining masters who had astounded their eras. Yet even those legendary masters wouldn't dare claim they could upgrade a weapon by two full tiers in a single second. To do so without adding any heavenly materials or earthly treasures was unthinkable. It completely defied all logic!

Xu Lai offered no explanation but tossed the blade to Tan Chang. "Hurry up and finish this."

Tan Chang caught the sword. Though gravely injured from the combined assault of the Jiang Family's shadows and their formation, his mind suddenly achieved a state of perfect clarity.

With a single flick of his wrist, a head flew through the air and landed on the ground!

The shadows that had entangled him for so long, even with the enhancement of the Flowing Cloud Array, were now as fragile as paper dolls.

Tan Chang yelled, "What a fine sword!"

"That's my sword!" Mo Shan shrieked, practically mad with hatred. He was enraged, truly and utterly enraged this time.

"You claim that's a Spiritual Artifact? I don't believe you!" Mo Shan snarled. He pulled a black fan shrouded in dark mist from within his robes, his eyes nearly splitting from rage as he roared, "THIS is a Spiritual Artifact! THIS IS!"

The moment he finished speaking, Mo Shan snapped the fan open. With one fierce wave, the sky above East Sea City instantly plunged into darkness as a sinister wind began to howl, filled with the shrieks of ghosts and the wails of fiends.

From within the gloomy wind gusting from the fan, shadowy figures began to emerge, cackling strangely. They had horns on their heads and savage faces, though their forms were misty and indistinct.

"It has been many years, Mo Shan. You've finally deigned to summon us..."

"The Spiritual Energy in this world is truly pitiful, but these little morsels here are brimming with it."

"What are we waiting for? Let's feast! With every one we devour, our souls grow stronger. Reincarnation is within our grasp! KEKEKEKE!"

There were fewer than a hundred of these phantoms, but accompanied by their strange laughter, they descended upon Jiang Tengyun and the others like a swarm of locusts. They even targeted the shadows who were still fighting Tan Chang.

"AAAAAH!"

Jiang Tengyun and Lyu He shrieked in terror. Their bodies, along with those of the surviving shadows, began to wither rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, they were all reduced to desiccated corpses.

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