Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

Within the ruins of the Ancient River City.

This was once a great and mighty city, home to millions of people, but it was ultimately lost to the river of time.

It lay submerged year-round beneath the surging river, only revealing itself to the world during the Yulan Festival when the waters receded and the riverbed was exposed.

ROAR—

A series of roars echoed from the broken walls and ruins.

Countless Demon Beasts lived within the ruins of the Ancient River City, including many entrenched Tier One Advanced Demon Beasts.

There were even rumors of a Tier Two Demon Beast, a Red Blood Water Python, in the Imperial Palace at the center of the ruins!

This was a mighty Demon Beast, comparable to a True Martial Realm Powerhouse!

It was the strongest Overlord in the Yandu City region. No one could subdue it, so the Imperial Palace within the ruins had become a Forbidden Land that no one dared to enter.

"Eighty-nine!"

"Ninety!"

"Ninety-five..."

The terrifying sounds of battle erupted from the ruins. Streaks of sharp sword light shot toward the sky, shining as brightly as the moon in the dead of night and illuminating a patch of the Celestial Vault.

The sword moved with ultimate speed, each strike taking the life of a Demon Beast.

’Something’s not right, still not right...’

Jiang Chen harvested the Demon Pill from the Tier One Intermediate Demon Beast he had just slain and couldn’t help but shake his head. ’I’ve already cultivated both the Flowing Light Technique and the Thunderbolt Technique to the Perfection Realm. But this Instant Sword... I still can’t reach the state my father described: Sword Follows the Heart, One Sword, No Trace.’

The Aurora Sword Technique had three techniques in total: Flowing Light, Thunderbolt, and Instant Sword.

The First Technique, Flowing Light, focused on speed—as fast as flowing light.

The second technique, Thunderbolt, added the ferocious power of a thunderbolt to that speed. The sword struck like a thunderbolt, with astonishing destructive power.

As for the third technique, Instant Sword...

It was an even more perfect strike!

Drawing the sword, killing the target, and sheathing the sword...

These three actions had to be perfectly integrated and completed within three seconds to represent initial mastery of the Instant Sword. If completed within one and a half seconds, it was the Great Success Realm. To reach the Perfection Realm, it had to be done in under half a second.

Once he could execute the Instant Sword in half a second, he would be able to achieve the state of Sword Follows the Heart, One Sword, No Trace.

Unfortunately, Jiang Chen had so far been unable to cultivate the Instant Sword to the Perfection Realm.

"It’s been two full days since I left Mahe Valley for the ruins of Ancient River City, but I still haven’t found Jiang Ziyou and the others. I have no idea where they are!" Jiang Chen put away his Token, a helpless look on his face as he shook his head and sighed.

The ruins of Ancient River City were simply too vast.

Even with Jiang Chen’s speed, he had searched for half a day without running into Jiang Ziyou’s group. Instead, he had been hunting Demon Beasts all along the way, bringing his point total to ninety-five!

After tidying up, Jiang Chen resumed his search for Jiang Ziyou and the others.

「About half a day later...」

Jiang Chen encountered his first enemies since arriving in the ruins of Ancient River City—Jian Shisan!

Jian Shisan stared at Jiang Chen with a cold expression. More than thirty skilled fighters stood behind him. Upon suddenly encountering Jiang Chen, Jian Shisan was momentarily stunned before a look of excitement spread across his face. "Talk about an unexpected windfall! Jiang Chen, I never thought I’d run into you here. This saves me the trouble of hunting you down!"

"Jian Shisan?" Jiang Chen paused. "Are you looking for me for some reason?"

Jian Shisan sneered. "I’m looking for you, of course, to..." He paused deliberately, then suddenly spoke, his voice dripping with chilling intent. "Kill you!"

The temperature of the air seemed to plummet.

The bone-chilling killing intent radiating from Jian Shisan was enough to make one shiver.

Jiang Chen frowned. "I don’t recall ever offending you, yet you want to kill me? Is this about Jiang Ziyou, too?"

"Hahaha, who the hell is Jiang Ziyou? Why would I be working for her?"

Jian Shisan snorted contemptuously, a cold light erupting in his eyes. "As for why I’m killing you? Hmph, who told you to set a thirty-zhang record on the Zhenjiang Stele? You’re just a piece of trash who awakened a Yellow Tier First Grade Martial Soul. What right does a piece of trash like you have to step on my head? Therefore, you must die!"

"How ridiculous. Just because my score on the Zhenjiang Stele is higher than yours, I deserve to die?" Jiang Chen laughed, furious. "Even a legend of the Martial Dao wouldn’t demand someone’s death just for surpassing them. You want to kill me simply because I beat your record on the Zhenjiang Stele? Jian Shisan, aren’t you being a bit too tyrannical?"

He had long known that the scions of great powers were arrogant and looked down on common people as if they were nothing more than weeds.

But Jiang Chen never imagined someone would want to take his life over such a trivial matter. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Jian Shisan sneered, his voice sinister. "Tyrannical? Hmph, I am exactly that tyrannical. What can you do about it? The reason I can be tyrannical is because I have enough power to back it up. As for you, you piece of trash, you don’t have the strength, so what right do you have to step on my head? That’s why you must die. Jiang Chen, just accept your fate!"

"Get him!"

With a cruel smile, he pointed a finger at Jiang Chen.

Five of his subordinates immediately rushed out, brandishing their weapons and exuding a thick Evil Qi as they charged toward Jiang Chen.

These five were all at the Martial Arts Third Stage, skilled fighters in their own right. They all executed their Sword Techniques, intending to hack Jiang Chen to death.

"You want me dead? You, Jian Shisan, aren’t qualified!" Jiang Chen’s gaze turned icy as he spoke coolly.

"Still acting arrogant when death is at your doorstep!"

"You piece of trash, just accept your death..."

The five men sneered, their faces twisted with malice.

However, what met them was a flash of silver sword light, impossibly cold and as fast as a startled swan. It flickered and was gone. The SWISH SWISH of a blade cutting through the air suddenly rang out as it swept across their necks.

The five men’s forward charge came to an abrupt halt, and then five blossoms of blood spurted from their necks.

All five were slain by Jiang Chen with a single sword strike!

"How is this possible?"

"Didn’t the people from the Jiang Family say Jiang Chen was a waste? How can a waste kill five of them with one strike?"

Jian Shisan’s expression changed drastically. His hands trembled, and the sword he held radiated a chilling Sword Aura. "Good, good, good! What a Jiang Chen! I never thought you’d be hiding your strength so well. It seems everyone was deceived by you. But so what? Today, let’s see whose sword is superior—yours, or my Killing Sword Technique!"

At this thought, the sword in Jian Shisan’s hand suddenly left its sheath. The blade was like the wind, like the rain, gone in an instant.

Jian Shisan’s attainments in the Sword Dao were profound. He had cultivated his Yellow Tier Advanced Sword Technique, the Cross Killing Sword, to the Perfection Realm. When his sword came out, it killed with extreme speed.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

With one slash, more than ten sharp sword-shadows materialized, forming a cross shape. Each shadow was so substantial that it was impossible to tell which was real and which was false.

It was impossible to evade; one could only face them all, daring not to make the slightest mistake.

"Hahaha, the Thirteenth Young Master’s Cross Killing Sword is impossible to read! Jiang Chen is a dead man!"

"The guild master said that among our generation, no one can block the Thirteenth Young Master’s sword except for Lin Yu, Chen Fanx, Xu Qilin, and Jiang Ziyou."

However, was that truly the case?

Facing Jian Shisan’s tyrannical strike, the corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth curved up into a sneer. "The Cross Killing Sword? Its power isn’t weak, I’ll give you that. But unfortunately for you, swordsmanship like yours is still too childish in my eyes. Jian Shisan, open your eyes and watch closely. This... is a true killing sword!"

"Thunderbolt Technique!"

BOOM!

His sword emerged with a deafening thunderous roar. The blade, sharp as lightning, tore through the air.

PUFF—

A spray of blood erupted. The terrifying lightning of the sword light directly destroyed the dozen or so sharp sword-shadows, causing the cross formation to shatter.

The sharp sword’s momentum didn’t falter as it plunged directly into the space between the astonished Jian Shisan’s eyebrows.

Jian Shisan’s eyes widened as blood streamed from his orifices. His voice was intermittent. "Such... such... such a fast sword..."

THUD!

His body convulsed once, then collapsed heavily into a pool of blood...