In the depths of the Southern Barrens, a White Rock Mountain Range stood tall amongst the peaks. Above the range, palaces and halls clustered together, auspicious clouds swirling in the air. Figures of human cultivators could be seen traversing the floating clouds, a scene befitting an immortal's abode.
The Heavenly Expanse Sect, one of the most prominent sects in the Southern Barrens.
Atop the White Rock Mountain Range, an old man in a deep blue robe, his beard and hair as white as snow, possessed an ethereal aura. He was Wang Lin, the Sect Master of the Heavenly Expanse Sect. Hundreds of years ago, he had ascended to the twelfth realm, a celestial being whose mastery of spiritual cultivation was unrivaled in the Southern Barrens. He had founded the Heavenly Expanse Sect single-handedly, a true master of his generation.
At this moment, four middle-aged cultivators stood behind Wang Lin, all his most accomplished disciples.
"News has arrived from the Sky Pillar Sect."
One disciple furrowed his brow and said, "Ancestor Liu Xing's head was severed by Old Ancestor Wuyue. As he attempted soul ascension, his golden body was also shattered by a single punch from Old Ancestor Wuyue. Sect Master Liu Chenqing, having no choice, led the entire Sky Pillar Sect to surrender to Old Ancestor Wuyue. Now, the entire Sky Pillar Sect has become their pawns."
"Old Ancestor Wuyue..."
Wang Lin frowned, racking his brain to recall who this Old Ancestor Wuyue, capable of so easily killing the thirteenth-realm cultivator Liu Xing, could be. This person had appeared as if from nowhere. There was no such figure in the Southern Barrens before. Liu Xing was the true number one in the Southern Barrens, yet overnight, the Southern Barrens had been turned upside down.
"Will he come for our Heavenly Expanse Sect?"
Wang Lin let out a bitter chuckle and looked at his four disciples, two of whom were at the eleventh realm, and the other two at the peak of the Star River realm. "If Old Ancestor Wuyue were to arrive at our Heavenly Expanse Sect's doorstep, how do you think the Heavenly Expanse Sect should respond?"
"Master!"
One disciple knitted his brows. "We cultivators, in our pursuit of the Dao, have always believed in seeking the straight path rather than the crooked. If we were to submit to such a vicious individual just to prolong our existence, where would our Dao heart be? Where would the Great Dao we once sought reside? Humans are the spirits of heaven and earth, and we cultivators on the mountains are the spirits among spirits. If even we grovel and bow, where lies the future of the human realm?"
"Senior Brother speaks the truth!"
Another disciple said in a deep voice, "Master, we would rather fight to the death than grovel and kneel before Old Ancestor Wuyue like the Sky Pillar Sect, let alone attack the human realm."
The remaining two disciples clasped their fists in unison, "Master, our thoughts are the same!"
"Good!"
Wang Lin nodded, a smile appearing in his eyes. "My Heavenly Expanse Sect disciples should indeed be so!"
Just then, a faint voice suddenly drifted from below the mountain—
"Old Ancestor Wuyue, requests an audience!"
"He's here!"
The chief disciple furrowed his brows. "So soon?!"
"Accompany me to welcome our guest!"
Wang Lin swept his long sleeves, and a voice resonated throughout the White Rock Mountain Range. "This is a time of life and death for our Heavenly Expanse Sect. All disciples, man the gates to welcome our guest!"
...
At the sect gates.
Old Ancestor Wuyue, clad in a gray and white robe, leaned on a cane, appearing frail and elderly. His face was hidden beneath his hood, only a pair of grayish-brown eyes faintly visible. Within the depths of his eyes flickered streaks of golden light, exuding the mystery of an ancient deity. The body beneath his robe was the remains of an ancient deity, still retaining a remnant of ancient divine power that had not faded despite the erosion of tens of thousands of years.
Behind Old Ancestor Wuyue stood a group from the Sky Pillar Sect, led by Sect Master Liu Chenqing. Elders and protectors stood by, their expressions solemn and complicated.
From the mountain, figures descended rapidly, it was Wang Lin and his group from the Heavenly Expanse Sect.
"You've come?"
Old Ancestor Wuyue narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Wang Lin, immediately lead your disciples to kneel and pledge allegiance to me, and you shall be spared death!"
Wang Lin, a dignified sect master and a legendary twelfth-realm great cultivator, could not tolerate such humiliation. His gaze turned cold, and he smiled. "The disciples of the Heavenly Expanse Sect kneel to heaven and earth, and to our ancestors. We do not kneel to the wicked of the mortal world, nor to the specters of heaven and earth."
"Oh? You have backbone."
Old Ancestor Wuyue smiled faintly and looked at the Heavenly Expanse Sect members behind Wang Lin. "Do you all feel the same?"
"Indeed!"
Several disciples shouted in unison, "As the mountain stands, we stand. As the mountain falls, we fall. The disciples of the Heavenly Expanse Sect will never grovel!"
"Very good, very good."
Old Ancestor Wuyue's gaze gradually turned sinister. He raised his sleeves and said with a smile, "Since that is the case, I shall fulfill your wishes. In truth... I do not particularly need you people."
With that, Old Ancestor Wuyue's eyes chilled, and he shouted, "Wang Lin! You old fool, you refuse to accept reason. Do you truly wish to lead your entire sect to their deaths?"
Wang Lin soared into the air, grasping the talisman stone for the Heavenly Expanse Sect's protective formation. His gaze was cold, "My disciples have made themselves clear. As the mountain stands, we stand. As the mountain falls, we fall!"
"Then I shall fulfill your wish!"
Old Ancestor Wuyue laughed heartily and extended a hand towards the distance. Instantly, strands of chaotic energy flowed, and the ancient divine power within his body began to stir. The wild lands seemed to awaken a certain power. The earth rumbled and trembled. Then, the clouds in the distance parted, and the silhouette of a colossal behemoth appeared in the sky—it was a mountain range!
"Wang Lin, die!"
Old Ancestor Wuyue let out an arrogant roar. With a wave of his palm, the divine essence of that ancient mountain seemed to be drawn out. With a hum, it descended from the heavens and slammed heavily onto the body of the twelfth-realm great cultivator Wang Lin. Instantly, Wang Lin spat blood. Although he desperately spurred the twelfth-realm Dao profound mechanisms within his body, he was powerless to resist. In an instant, his three natal magic artifacts shattered. Then, his body was engulfed by the inextinguishable Inner Demon flames. The Inner Demon True Fire burned fiercely, and Wang Lin's body transformed into a fireball at the foot of the mountain, instantly crushed by an ancient mountain range deep within the distant peaks.
"Boom!"
With a deafening roar, the ancient immortal mountain plunged hundreds of feet, crushing Wang Lin's physical body. Countless golden rays of light rained down from the sky. The dignified twelfth-realm great cultivator Wang Lin perished, his destiny returning to the Southern Barrens.
"Master!"
"Sect Master!"
A group of elders, protectors, and disciples were aghast. The chief disciple, his face a mixture of grief and indignation, suddenly unleashed a golden pagoda and roared, charging towards Old Ancestor Wuyue. The other disciples and elders also unleashed their divine abilities.
"It's best if you all attack together!"
Old Ancestor Wuyue's eyes were filled with murderous intent. Streaks of inextinguishable Inner Demon flames flowed around him, accompanied by rolling military killing intent. The inextinguishable Inner Demons in the world all originated from the military cultivators of heaven and earth, so killing intent was inevitable. In the Outer Heavens, the power of one inextinguishable Inner Demon might not withstand a few sword strikes from Ding Muchuan, but in the mortal realm, an inextinguishable Inner Demon combined with the remains of an ancient deity surpassed ordinary fourteenth-realm cultivators.
In the air, lightning flashed and thunder roared. Old Ancestor Wuyue's legs were covered in Inner Demon flames. With a sweep of his limbs, the fierce flames swept across the sky, instantly turning the Heavenly Expanse Sect disciples into fireballs that tumbled down from the heavens, landing in the wilderness, howling in pain and rolling. The blazing inextinguishable Inner Demon flames were too much even for the twelfth-realm Wang Lin to resist, let alone the eleventh-realm and mid-fifth-realm cultivators.
Thus, in an instant, the Heavenly Expanse Sect's gates became like a purgatory on earth, with a large number of cultivators perishing heroically.
"..."
The Sky Pillar Sect members, including Sect Master Liu Chenqing, all lowered their gaze, unable to bear witness to the scene.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
More than half of the nearly thousand disciples of the Heavenly Expanse Sect had vanished, yet many still charged forward. At this point, Liu Chenqing could watch no longer. He knelt on one knee and said in a deep voice, "Ancestor, that is enough. If you continue to kill, the Heavenly Expanse Sect lineage will truly be wiped out! Fellow Daoists of the Heavenly Expanse Sect, stop fighting. You cannot die anymore, or the inheritance of the Heavenly Expanse Sect will truly be broken..."
In the wind, Old Ancestor Wuyue's arms were entwined with streaks of inextinguishable Inner Demon flames. A cold sneer played on his lips. "Liu Chenqing, you are too soft-hearted."
"Yes, Ancestor."
Liu Chenqing's brows were tightly knit. "But please, Ancestor... show some mercy and do not hunt them to extinction..."
"Hmph!"
Old Ancestor Wuyue looked at the remaining disciples of the Heavenly Expanse Sect before him, and at the clusters of scorched corpses on the mountainside. The air was filled with the stench of burning flesh. He could not help but let out a cold laugh. "Hmph, all disciples of the Heavenly Expanse Sect, if you kneel, you shall be spared. Do it now!"
"What are you waiting for?!"
Liu Chenqing stood up, his twelfth-realm aura rolling and crushing outwards. He roared, "Kneel, and you shall be spared!"
At once, many young disciples of the Heavenly Expanse Sect knelt down. However, there were still those with a harder resolve. Holding their swords, their eyes fixed on Old Ancestor Wuyue in the sky, they said, "Our Master and Senior Brothers have already fallen. Living in this world is a disgrace, and there is no point. Since that is the case, we would rather die."
With that, dozens more disciples drew their swords and charged towards the sky, their sword lights slicing towards Old Ancestor Wuyue in the wind.
The next moment, Old Ancestor Wuyue waved his hand, and a surge of immense mountain power rolled through, grinding the dozens of Heavenly Expanse Sect disciples into dust. His eyes were filled with a cold smile.
"Senior Brother!"
On the ground, the disciples who had knelt looked at their senior brothers being slaughtered in the sky, tears streaming down their faces. They might survive today, but their Dao hearts would bear the torment for the rest of their lives.
Liu Chenqing sighed. This was all he could do for the human realm of the Southern Barrens.
...
Late at night.
In the Southern Barrens, a stream wound its way through the mountains. On the bank of the stream, dozens of fairy maidens from the mountains stood. Among them, a slightly older woman was Xie Yiying, the Sect Master of the Lingyan Sword Sect. Behind her followed a group of young female disciples led by Chen Mengjun.
"This river is called the White Stream River."
Xie Yiying glanced at the map she carried and smiled. "The White Stream River area is rich in spiritual energy. Let's stay here for a while and fetch some water for cooking."
"Yes, Master!"
The group of female disciples chirped and fluttered, following their master on a journey of exploration. For them, it was a true joy. It not only honed their Dao cultivation but also allowed them to see the outside world, which was far better than practicing diligently in the Lingyan Sword Sect.
Chen Mengjun, dressed in a green skirt, stood on a green rock by the riverbank. A relaxed and carefree expression graced her beautiful face as she watched the ceaseless flow of the White Stream River. Gradually, her thoughts began to drift. When she focused her gaze again, she noticed that on the bank dozens of feet away, a young sword cultivator seemed to be fishing. He carried an ancient sword wrapped in cloth on his back, wore a bamboo hat, and had a fishing basket beside him. He was patiently casting his rod, luring the fish into his trap.