This was the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint's way of showing respect to Ning Qi.

Ning Qi's breathing slightly quickened, and there was a sudden realization in his eyes:

"So... this is the intent of Heaven-Slaying?"

He had always been somewhat puzzled as to why the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint had such a title, and now he finally had the answer. This kind of unparalleled blade intent truly deserved the name Heaven-Slaying.

As the true form of the giant blade was revealed, Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint's aura became even more domineering.

He extended a finger.

The giant blade then roared downwards, splitting the space like fragile paper, an enormous, terrifying rift extending outwards across the sky. It seemed as though it was going to sever the heavens, and the scene was extremely frightening, creating the feeling that even True Martial Mountain might be cleaved in two.

Ning Qi let out a gentle breath, his eyes showing no panic, only fighting spirit.

Within his body, his four organs instantly coordinated, and a surge of spiritual power erupted forth, catching Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint's attention.

But what shook Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint more was the sword intent that similarly surged skyward. Within it, he saw many paths, and even faintly glimpsed a shadow of his own Heaven-Slaying Blade Intent, which he found somewhat incredible.

This was naturally what Ning Qi comprehended from his earlier observation. However, Heaven-Slaying Blade Intent was deep and inscrutable, and Ning Qi still needed a little time to integrate its essence.

Now was not the time to think about these things.

Facing this Heaven-Slaying strike, he too needed to give it his all.

"Jia Wood Divine Sword Qi!"

With a thought.

The liver within his body immediately exploded with radiant light.

Ning Qi wielded the True Martial Sword, lightly swiping it, merging the dense Wood Qi and sword intent, and in the next moment, a cyan sword Qi carrying unmatched sharpness and a sense of endless vitality transformed into a dragon towards the heavens.

Rip!

The void was torn like cloth.

Though the sword Qi was several feet long, it seemed rather insignificant compared to the giant blade, yet its power was not inferior at all.

Under the tense gazes of everyone, the giant blade and sword Qi collided violently.

No earth-shattering explosion as one might have imagined; instead, they mysteriously 'stuck' together, becoming still. But only the Blade Demon and the other two Martial Saints could see clearly that at the point of contact, lines of spiritual power were constantly disintegrating and breaking apart, while the sword Qi, eternally vibrant, was perpetually eroding the might of the giant blade.

Ning Qi's choice was very deliberate.

Each of the Five Elements Divine Sword Qi had its focus, and facing this domineering Heaven-Slaying strike, going head-to-head was not a good choice; Jia Wood Divine Sword Qi was undoubtedly the best solution.

A circle of faint ripples spread outwards and then disappeared without a trace.

Both were very restrained; otherwise, just the aftermath would be sufficient to shatter True Martial Mountain. At such a level, scorching mountains and boiling seas was a trifling matter; a Martial Saint's destructive power was extremely terrifying.

But as it stood.

The sword Qi and giant blade were clearly evenly matched.

Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint's expression was calm, but his heart was filled with turbulent waves.

His hollow eyes stared at Ning Qi, finally sighing and saying:

"The young generation is truly fearsome."

He waved his hand, and the Heaven-Reaching Giant Blade returned to its sheath, then transformed in his hand into a plain and unremarkable walking stick.

The wind calmed, and the clouds dispersed.

As if everything before had been an illusion.

Ning Qi simply said flatly:

"You're flattering me."

He knew.

The opponent hadn't used full strength, and just wanted to test his limits with a single move. As seen from the result now, of course, Ning Qi hadn't used all his strength either; it wasn't worth going all out when it wasn't a life and death confrontation.

Everyone held their breaths, a sense of immense pride welling up inside.

Who was the opponent on the other side?

The Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint!

An unrivaled strong person that could make all ancient saints of the world bow and yield.

But now.

He was only evenly matched with Ning Qi.

The eyes of each True Martial disciple were shining; if they weren't concerned about the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint's face, the crowd would probably have already erupted in cheers. Even so, many couldn't hide their joyful expressions.

The Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint paid no attention to these reactions; he simply looked toward Ning Qi and said:

"Since you killed Red Sun Martial Saint and Martial Saint Ziyue, you must take on their responsibilities."

The words were calm, as if stating a fact.

Ning Qi raised an eyebrow:

"Tell me about the covenant of the Ancient Saints."

The Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint nodded and said:

"You have the right to know."

The remaining people couldn't hear the subsequent words; from their perspective, Ning Qi simply locked eyes with the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint for a moment, and then both disappeared from sight.

The Blade Demon and the other two exchanged glances, understanding where the two had gone.

Within the Seeking Tao Institute.

Ning Qi and the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint sat opposite each other, Yuan Tiancheng respectfully brewing Enlightenment Tea before retreating.

The Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint praised:

"What a Seeking Tao Institute, what a Spiritual Ape, what an Enlightenment Tree!"

Ning Qi merely extended his hand in invitation:

"Please taste."

This was a treasure birthed from the Enlightenment Tea Tree's transformation, possessing miraculous effects.

The Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint took a small sip, his body going stiff as if savoring it, only putting down the teacup after dozens of breaths.

"Indeed, a fine tea."

Ning Qi's lips curved slightly; he had detected the envy in the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint's words. This kind of treasure, even for Ning Qi, had some benefit, let alone for others. The Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint was powerful, but his understanding could never surpass Ning Qi's, perhaps even incomparable.

"You're flattering me," Ning Qi modestly replied, and then fell silent, just quietly sipping tea, waiting for the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint to speak.

He wanted to know what this so-called responsibility of taking over from Red Sun Martial Saint and Martial Saint Ziyue entailed.

The Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint too quietly sipped tea, the emptiness in his eyes carrying a hint of desolation.

After a moment.

A voice tinged with heaviness finally spoke:

"Let me tell you a story."

Ning Qi earnestly replied:

"I'm willing to hear it in detail."

"Long ago, there existed a wondrous world where the Martial Path flourished, and life thrived in abundance. During that time, the Martial Saint Realm wasn't esteemed; there were legends of even stronger individuals breaking the boundaries to ascend. The world was prosperous, and some Absolute Strong Persons believed that this world was about to ascend, capable of accommodating beings stronger than Martial Saints."

"One after another, Martial Arts Strong Persons pressed forward, and the world's civilization grew ever more brilliant."

"But then one day, everything changed. A formless, terrifying poison descended upon the world, merging with Spiritual Qi — the foundation of Martial Path civilization. In an instant, countless strong persons perished from expired lifespans, spirit beasts died in wails, and people called it Life Poison. This calamity came to be known as the Life Poison Catastrophe."

"Yet among the living beings were extraordinary talents who, through collective brainstorming, finally thought of a way to weaken it after enduring several years."

"Life Poison seemed no longer so terrifying. Although Martial Path civilization withered much, there was ultimately hope for a renewed splendor."

"But people slowly realized that the existence of Life Poison severely limited the Martial Artist's potential ceiling, and the whole Martial Path civilization was gradually declining, producing fewer and fewer Martial Saints."

Ning Qi slightly held his breath.

He had already realized what the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint was talking about; it was the era of ancient brilliance in this world, of which now not even a trace remained in records.

At this point.

The fluctuations in the Heaven-Slaying Martial Saint's emotions were visibly noticeable.

His voice bore heaviness as well as anger and killing intent.

"But that's not all. As time passed, new Martial Saints, ones who fused with Life Poison, emerged, marking the beginning of true disaster as the invaders arrived!"

"Life Poison was theirs to deploy!"

"On that day, one despairing powerhouse after another appeared beyond the world. Perhaps any one of them could annihilate everyone; even through the world's barrier, the oppression was suffocating."

"That's when everyone realized the newly emerged Martial Saints were the world's Tao Marks. When enough people had refined both Spiritual Qi and Life Poison into their bodies, those Tao Marks became exceedingly clear, guiding them to connect with the world."

"Fortunately, due to the world's suppression, those despairing powerhouses couldn't descend; the strongest this world could accommodate were Martial Saints. However, even so, they dispatched numerous Martial Saint-level invaders."

"On that day, rivers of blood flowed, all beings were slaughtered, and there were endless cries of woe."

"This world's powerful individuals rose in resistance, many of them extraordinarily talented, but it was futile."

"The gap was much too large; the number of invaders was ten to a hundred times that of this world's strong persons."

Unknowingly.

Ning Qi had been listening with bated breath, his pupils filled with a solemn expression.

A hundred times the number of current Martial Saints?

Just thinking about it felt suffocating.

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