Everyone shuddered as blood-red sin power enveloped the entire area.

A shabby, gaunt little girl had transformed into a terrifying existence billowing with sin power in an instant. Who wouldn’t have been startled?

Cen Xinghe warned, “Your Excellency, that old woman said they brought such a massive force so as to bully us with sheer force of numbers, or rather, to bully your master and my grandfather.”

“Oh,” said the little girl.

She flipped her palm, and countless colorful, blood-red lights surged forth, transforming into one terrifying Sin Soul after another. There was the hunch-backed Old Man Ru Ya with his white bone tower, the black-robed saber cultivator, Liu Sheng, and the tall, stalwart Si Xuanpin, but that wasn’t the end of it. Soon, over one hundred Sin Souls had appeared, all of them billowing with the baleful aura of sin.

Their auras alone were enough to shake everyone present. Countless onlookers’ hearts quivered.

Is that... every single Sin Soul imprisoned in the Sin-Severing Dungeon!? Old Yao Kun Peng, Granny Snake, and the others couldn’t help but break out in cold sweats as the pressure on them sharply increased.

Not one of those Sin Souls was a pushover. All of them were unparalleled experts of the Ancient Nine Luminaries City during the Devastation. All of them had once waged war against the Outsider Celestial Demons. How could they possibly be ordinary?

The distant onlookers couldn’t help but fall into a daze. No wonder the Heavenly Monarchs are being so cautious. Li Muchen is ridiculous!

This development completely turned the situation on its head. The Heavenly Monarchs' advantage in numbers vanished in the blink of an eye! On the contrary, now, the Sin Souls outnumbered them. Their auras were even more terrifying, too!

The little girl fixed her blood-red eyes on the distant Heavenly Monarchs as if gazing down at mere ants. “You think you can bully my master. Are you... worthy of that?”

Her icy voice echoed throughout heaven and earth.

She raised her hand and was just about to attack when a thin figure appeared out of nowhere. His long hair was graying, and a waterfall of starlight flowed over his entire body, as if he were swathed in the starry skies.

He’d only just appeared when a heart-palpitating aura swept outward. Countless star corpses lit up overhead, resonating with the gaunt man’s aura. It was as if he were the master of heaven and earth, the ruler of the Ancient Nine Luminaires City!

The Sword-Bearer!

Old Yao Kun Peng, Granny Snake, and the others sighed in relief, their spirits rising. The little girl’s methods had indeed put enormous pressure on them. All of them feared for their lives. Now that the Sword-Bearer had appeared, all of them felt as if they’d found their pillar of support!

The Malevolent Sword Venerate’s tightly furrowed brow relaxed.

The little girl’s involvement startled him. He realized that the worst-case scenario, the rare “what if” he’d been on guard for, had indeed come to pass. Even if you’d hit him over the head, he would never have guessed that the incarnation of all evils would choose to help Su Yi. But it had already happened, and this was no time to ponder the details.

Fortunately, the Sword-Bearer hadn’t let him down. At a critical juncture, he’d stepped forth to intervene.

I’ll be interested to see just how many more surprises you can give me... The Malevolent Sword Venerate glowered.

Meanwhile, the Sword-Bearer said hoarsely, “Rahu, you’ve broken the rules!”

The little girl looked at him, her red eyes glinting with disdain. “The Devastation ended a long time ago, and who knows where Heavenly Sovereign Zhenyue got off to? The Ancient Nine Luminaries City exists only in name. What rules are there to speak of?”

A deathly silence descended over the crowd. Even the Heavenly Sovereigns felt an incomparably heavy pressure as they watched this conversation.

Rahu!

Only now did many of the onlookers realize that the little girl was most likely the incarnation of the Laws of Rahu, the Shadow Star!

The little girl, meanwhile, continued, “And you know, the strong might set the rules, but those stronger than them can break the rules.”

The Sword-Bearer’s face was wrinkled with age, and his eyes were as distant and deep as the starry sky. “You want to break the rules? With me here, you’re unqualified to even speak of such things!”

The little girl laughed. “I didn’t deal with you earlier, first on account of Heavenly Sovereign Zhenyue, and then because I was trapped in the Sin-Severing Dungeon. Now that my master has helped me escape, your measly abilities aren’t enough to fight me, Ketu.”

Ketu! The Eclipse!

Numerous onlookers’ hearts shook. Does this mean that the Sword-Bearer seated in the Forgotten Palace, the guardian of the Ancient Nine Luminaries City, is in fact the incarnation of the Laws of Ketu?

Is that man actually a spirit body born of the power of the Laws? Su Yi’s eyes shone with a strange light.

He’d mastered eight of the Laws of the Nine Luminaries. “Ketu” was the only one he was missing. He’d just been wondering where the Laws of Ketu were hidden. Who’d have thought his target would seek him out of its own accord?

“Heavenly Sovereign Zhenyue left me here before he left. On the surface, I was tasked with watching over the city, but in truth, he left me here to keep you in check, Rahu,” the Sword-Bearer said calmly. “I urge you not to try anything ‘clever.’ Don’t think that you can do whatever you want just because you broke free of the Sin-Severing Dungeon!”

The little girl giggled. “Go ahead and kill me, then.”

“There’s no rush to kill you,” said the Sword-Bearer. His gaze landed on Su Yi. “Not even Heavenly Sovereign Zhenyue could force you to lower your head, so why choose to serve him?”

That was exactly what everyone else was wondering, too.

“Don’t even try to tell me that you’re repaying his benevolence,” said the Sword-Bearer. “You’re an incarnation of pure evil. You’re not that type of person! Or perhaps I should ask you this. Why are you exploiting him? What goal are you using him to achieve?”

The little girl suddenly looked at Su Yi and said pitifully, “Master, that old man is trying to sow discord between us. Whatever you do, don’t believe him!”

Su Yi naturally didn’t question her. The little girl, Innocence, really didn’t care at all about repaying others’ benevolence, but she didn’t have ulterior motives, either. She was just afraid! Afraid of the Sword of the Nine Hells, and more than that, of his first incarnation’s heart devil! It was that simple.

But despite understanding that full well, out loud, Su Yi said, “Prove yourself.”

Innocence said hurriedly, “Just watch, Master! I’ll twist his head off his shoulders!”

With that, she vanished into thin air.

Boom!

Countless dazzling, blood-red arcs fell like rain.

The Sword-Bearer’s brow furrowed. Endless starlight erupted in front of him, then rose into the heavens.

Their clash shook the entire city.

As firelight swept forth, the little girl’s snowy, bare feet stepped in the air, her eyes blazing like blood-red lava. Countless black flowers swayed around her, all of them emanating the aura of sin. It was like a curtain of darkness enveloping everything between her and the Sword-Bearer.

The Sword-Bearer’s pupils constricted. He, too, was a spirit of the Laws, but he could tell that the girl presented a dire threat!

“Go! Kill them all!” the little girl said icily.

Boom!

Over one hundred Sin Souls attacked, all of them baleful, ferocious, and terrifying. They swept through the sky and lunged at the Heavenly Monarchs. Their sheer momentum was enough to make the onlookers’ scalps go numb with fright.

The Sword-Bearer snorted coldly, stretched out his hand, and grabbed.

In the skies over the Ancient Nine Luminaries City, the countless stars manifested of the Laws fell like rain. It was as if the Will of the Heavens were intent on crushing and suppressing everything.

A disdainful arc tugged at the little girl’s lips as she swung her palm at the sky. The entire expanse of starlight shattered!

“You’re fighting me, yet you dare to get distracted? You’re really courting death!”

The little girl suddenly blurred into a beam of back light and vanished into the curtain of darkness.

Countless black flowers appeared around the Sword-Bearer, dark and mysterious.

He swung his sleeve, then pressed down. Dazzling starlight swept forth like a flowing galaxy.

He and Innocence were instantly locked in fierce combat.

Meanwhile, another fierce battle raged in the city, blasting the death trap to bits. Old Yao Kun Peng, Granny Snake, Bi Yunzi, and over one hundred Heavenly Monarchs fought the army of Sin Souls.

The entire city was instantly plunged into chaos and upheaval. All manner of dazzling lights swept forth, and magic treasures whooshed through the sky.

The onlookers were horrified. They turned to flee, not daring to stay to watch the battle. Even just the aftershock of a battle between so many Heavenly Monarchs was enough to destroy them!

The scene was incomparably chaotic.

“Run!” Mo Lanhe grabbed Fu Lingyun by the arm, then turned to flee.

But a figure silently blocked their path.

This was none other than the Malevolent Sword Venerate, still wearing the face of Shang Wuhui.

As soon as he appeared, he said flatly, “Come with me, and you won’t die. I’m interested to see whether or not my reincarnation is as devoted and loyal as he was back then.”

Mo Lanhe’s expression shifted. He instantly flung Fu Lingyun away, then went boldly into battle. He’d decided to risk it all!

The Malevolent Sword Venerate watched calmly, then swung his sleeve. Both Mo Lanhe and Fu Lingyun were like bugs trapped in a spiderweb.

Boom!

A streak of blood-red sword light descended. Cen Xinghe intervened right in the nick of time.

The Malevolent Sword Venerate’s expression didn’t so much as ripple. He raised his hand and tapped the air.

Bang!!

Blood-red sword light shattered. Cen Xinghe was forced several steps back.

The Malevolent Sword Venerate seized the opportunity to swoop in and stuff Mo Lanhe and Fu Lingyun into his sleeves.

Cen Xinghe’s expression darkened, but just as he was about to intervene, Su Yi pulled him back.

“You’re resorting to these pathetic, unseemly schemes again, huh?” Su Yi’s brow furrowed slightly. “Just as I thought. You’ve never given me any opportunity to revise my low opinion of you.”

The Malevolent Sword Venerate smiled. “I don’t need your approval.”

He flipped his palm, and a scroll covered in intricate silver markings floated into the air.

“This scroll comes from the Far Shore of Destiny. It was given to me by an expert called Yun Wuxiang,” said the Malevolent Sword Venerate. “Apparently, Yun Wuxiang once cultivated alongside our first incarnation, but after an act of betrayal, he was cast out. He almost died at our first incarnation’s hand. He gave me this scroll so that he might borrow my hands to defeat you.”

Yun Wuxiang? The name meant nothing to Su Yi.

But the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s words nonetheless made him furrow his brow. The Malevolent Sword Venerate is actually backed by a terrifying existence from the Far Shore of the River of Destiny?

“So, that scroll is your killer weapon?” Su Yi asked casually.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” said the Malevolent Sword Venerate with a mysterious smile.

The scroll silently unfurled in the sky, and mysterious silver light flowed forth. Within moments, time and space shifted. Then, the scroll, the Malevolent Sword Venerate, Su Yi, and Cen Xinghe vanished without a trace.