BOOM!

Blood trickled from the corner of Yu Tian’s mouth. His eyes went wide as he stared at the house opposite him, looking as if he’d just seen a ghost.

Just moments ago, he had unleashed a powerful blast. He’d been about to turn and join the other Sword Emperor in battle, but to his shock, the immense power he had just released rebounded right back at him!

If not for his immense strength and incredibly swift reflexes, Yu Tian would have been severely injured by his own attack!

He had aimed that last attack right at Ling Xiao’s house!

He had intended to destroy the house in a single blow, to shatter Ling Xiao’s courage and scare him half to death!

Horror filled Yu Tian’s eyes. Yu Guang, at his side, also jumped in fright, sensing what felt like an invisible barrier that had just deflected his master’s attack.

"What’s going on?"

Elder Peng couldn’t resist asking.

Then, living up to their reputations as masters renowned for years, their next reaction was to launch themselves into the air, intending to seize the advantage from above!

In their book, there was no such thing as "bullying a junior." When they intended to kill, they showed no mercy. And while they weren’t supposed to kill Ling Xiao, making him suffer a bit was certainly not a problem!

"Alright, boy, now you’ve pissed me off!"

With a bizarre cry, Yu Tian summoned a short sword into his hand, one that gleamed like polished silver. He pointed it downward. Four streaks of blood-red Sword Qi, each over ten feet long and reeking of death, burst from his blade and shot toward the house below from four different directions.

This time, they saw it with perfect clarity. A bright light flashed below, and the four streaks of Sword Qi vanished right above the house, disappearing as if they’d been swallowed by the sea.

HISS!

Yu Tian couldn’t help but suck in a sharp, cold breath. He suddenly dismissed the protective aura around his body, letting the torrential rain pour down on him. The icy sensation made him shiver. ’How many years has it been since I’ve felt the rain? Ever since I became a Sword Sect master, not a single drop has been able to touch me, has it?’ As he felt the rain quickly soaking his hair, he knew in his heart... all of this was real. He wasn’t dreaming!

From the front courtyard, a series of furious roars echoed. Yu Tian could clearly sense the power fluctuations from that direction. ’That’s right... it must be that Sword Emperor!’ he thought. ’But what in the world is happening here?’

Yu Guang and Elder Peng, both Sword Sect masters, stood there dumbfounded. Refusing to accept what he was seeing, Elder Peng suddenly condensed a powerful blast of Sword Qi with his longsword and fired it viciously at the ground. But as the Sword Qi neared its target, the same bright light flashed once more, absorbing the attack completely!

At the same time... all around Ling Xiao’s inner residence, countless points of light suddenly flared to life!

The scenery before the three men warped, and they were suddenly plunged into a bizarre new space. The rain was gone; they could see no sky and no ground—only thick, swirling banks of fog!

"Where is this place?"

Elder Peng cried out in baffled horror, "This... is this some kind of Demon Technique?"

Yu Tian yanked the other two to his side. "Back-to-back!" he ordered in a low voice.

The three instantly understood and pressed their backs together, nervously scanning their surroundings. Yu Guang’s voice trembled as he stammered, "Master... could it be? Could this be... a... a Domain?"

"Bullshit!"

Yu Tian roared back, "Are you blind! Have you lost your mind? A Domain, my ass! That’s a power only a Sword Saint can possess! What kind of Sword Saint would be hiding out in a shithole like this!"

Yu Tian was shouting, his emotions spiraling out of control. In truth, he wasn’t sure himself. He had never seen a Domain, but he had encountered someone at the Sword Venerable level before, and he knew it was a completely different concept from his Sword Emperor realm. To put it simply, a Tier One Sword Venerable could annihilate a Tier Six Sword Emperor with a flick of a finger!

In contrast, it would still take considerable effort for a Tier Six Sword Emperor to kill a Tier Five Sword Emperor!

Once a Martial Artist reached the Sword Emperor realm, their power could no longer be explained by the Martial Dao alone. A powerhouse at the Sword Venerable Level could directly absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to cultivate. While a Sword Emperor was also incredibly strong, with an understanding of the Sword Dao that far surpassed ordinary Martial Artists and elevated them to a whole new realm, the gap between them and a Sword Venerable was as clear as night and day.

Trapped in this unfathomable space, Yu Tian couldn’t definitively say whether or not this was the legendary Domain. However, he refused to let such an unsubstantiated fear break his composure, which was why he had so forcefully berated his disciple.

"Don’t move. First, let’s figure out what’s going on."

Yu Tian’s voice was low, his hair still dripping wet. He wasn’t even in the mood to use his Inner Strength to dry it; it seemed the damp, cold sensation helped keep him focused.

In the room, a dumbfounded Ye Zi and Feng Ling stood beside Ling Xiao. Feng Ling was muttering, "I have to learn this! I have to learn this! It’s incredible, it’s so powerful! Ling Xiao... I’ve never heard of an Array like this. Why is it so strong?"

Ye Zi, her eyes fixed on the three men standing back-to-back outside, heard Feng Ling and casually replied, "You want to learn? Sure. All you have to do is reverse your name."

"Reverse my name?" Feng Ling furrowed her brow, muttering to herself, "Reverse it? Ling Feng? Hey... you’re teasing me!" A blush bloomed on her cheeks, as red as cherry blossoms.

Ye Zi pursed her lips. "I bet you wish your surname was Ling."

Ling Xiao stood between them, perfectly still, letting the two young women banter across him. ’The fact that they can joke around now means they’re no longer afraid of those three terrifyingly powerful men outside,’ he thought. ’That’s a good thing.’