"Since you're going to make a move, stop wasting words. My blade shows no rcy," Xu Zimo said coolly.
Shadow Tyrant in his hand surged with wild energy, its trendous power rolling through the void.
Seeing the towering blade intent, none of the others dared act rashly.
Saintess Qing was first to move.
A sky full of azure luan birds condensed into a rushing torrent, and curtain after curtain of heavenly force ca slashing toward Xu Zimo.
Zhao Qiuyi stepped back half a pace and launched her own flood of ice and snow.
The others were not to be outdone, in an instant the void was filled with the cries of golden crows, the bellowing of wild bulls, swarms of witch-crows, and the radiance of sun and moon hanging overhead.
It was plain to see that they were rely going through the motions, each making a perfunctory strike before quickly retreating.
As far as they were concerned, this was nothing more than completing an assignnt, performing the formality.
Whether Wang Xie lived or died no longer mattered; they had made their move, and if they failed to save him, that was simply a matter of insufficient ability.
Queen Mother would have no grounds to bla them.
Though they were only putting on a show, those torrents of power were trendous, roiling and crashing, engulfing everything in sight.
Xu Zimo bore the brunt of it. He raised Shadow Tyrant high and gripped the blade with both hands.
He laughed loudly. "As courtesy demands, I shall return your gesture in kind. Since you've blocked my path, allow to offer you a gift."
The blade rotated slightly, and a brilliant sword-light rippled outward like a sea of blades, undulating through the void.
Then he drew his right arm back, his gaze sharp as a torch, and brought the blade sweeping down in a single horizontal slash.
BOOM.
The trendous blade intent pierced the cosmos, and with an unstoppable, all-crushing force it tore every torrent apart.
Nor did it stop there, after shredding the torrents, the residual blade energy remained mighty, sweeping toward the crowd.
Blade light erupted from the ground and soared into the heavens.
Both the earth and the sky were carved open with deep, bottomless trenches that seed to have no end.
"Run!" Seeing this, the faces of the Saint Sons and Saintesss changed drastically.
They could not block that blade-light.
They had judged it in a single instant.
But no matter how fast they moved, they could not outrun the all-encompassing blade intent.
Another BOOM.
A world-shaking explosion detonated in the midst of the crowd. Even those who had been on guard were blasted off their feet by the trendous shockwave.
Xu Zimo paid the others no further mind. The tip of his blade was now pointed directly at Wang Xie.
Wang Xie had recovered a little strength and scrambled to his feet in a sorry state, sprinting toward the exit of the Peach Garden.
There was no hope of winning in a fight.
Escape was his only remaining chance at survival.
Xu Zimo watched his retreating figure, tilted Shadow Tyrant slightly, and launched a heaven-cleaving column of Blade light directly after him.
The Blade light swept through heaven and earth. In an instant the entire Peach Garden was engulfed in flying sand and tumbling rocks, the sky darkening as though a storm had swallowed the sun.
"No—!" Wang Xie spun around, his eyes wide with terror.
He let out a great cry.
And then his whole body was swallowed by the Blade light.
Inside the Jade Court, on a solitary island veiled in immortal mist and sheltered by ancient trees.
Gossar vapors drifted through heaven and earth, while lodious birdsong and the fragrance of flowers washed over everything.
This island held only a single palace.
Before the palace stood a sculpture of a woman ascending to immortality.
The entire structure was white and silver in color, not grand in scale, yet carrying a subtle quality of ethereal grace.
Immortal trees had taken root within the palace's towers and corridors; spirit sparrows perched upon the roof tiles; golden carvings glead, and iron trees bore silver blossoms.
This palace rested within that realm as though it had always belonged there.
Inside the main hall, a column of won stood on either side, arrayed in two rows.
At the very head of the hall, there were two seats.
The principal seat was shrouded in a dense mist through which nothing could be discerned, only a formidable power pulsing outward from within, as though suppressing all of existence.
Seated beside that principal seat was Ye Qingcheng.
At this mont she wore a pale white gown, with celestial beauty and jade-like features, the Saintess' crown upon her head, her long dress cascading like the Milky Way poured down from the Ninth Heaven.
Her skin was so delicate it seed it might shatter at a touch, white as snow, untouched by a single speck of filth.
She sat there, already carrying the bearing of one who commands from above.
In the center of the hall, the Heaven-Watching Mirror rotated without pause.
The Heaven-Watching Mirror had been left behind by the previous Queen Mother.
It had been forged by drawing upon the sun, the moon, the stars, and seventy-two of the world's most spiritually resonant materials.
Within its surface were carved one hundred and eight patterns.
These one hundred and eight patterns should not be underestimated, each was individually connected to a different part of the entire Jade Court.
In a certain sense, this Heaven-Watching Mirror was the very core of the Jade Court.
It surveyed and governed the entirety of the Jade Court.
To possess this mirror was to hold, at minimum, half the authority over the Jade Court.
Within the Heaven-Watching Mirror, everything that had transpired in the Peach Garden was projected faithfully, in full detail.
From within the mist of the principal seat, a voice was the first to speak.
When she did not speak, no one dared make a sound.
"What does everyone think?"
At these words, among the many won below, one stepped forward.
She wore a long crimson gown, like a brilliant sun newly rising.
If one looked carefully, it beca apparent that the won in the hall wore four distinct styles of dress. the green of spring, the red of sumr, the gold of autumn, and the white of winter.
The woman who had spoken was nad Xia Changshan.
"Queen Mother, this person is far too arrogant. Regardless of whether he is a guest of our Jade Court, he has openly slain disciples of the Jade Court, a cri deserving death."
At these words, the hall fell into complete silence; no one else ventured to speak.
For none of them could discern the Queen Mother's attitude.
Every woman within this hall held a position of great standing in the Jade Court.
But it was precisely because of this that, like walking alongside a tiger, they were all careful and cautious, afraid of displeasing Queen Mother.
These won were the Queen Mother's personal guard, collectively known as the Four Seasons Valkyries.
Every one of them possessed extraordinary strength.
Upon hearing Xia Changshan's words, the Queen Mother fell briefly silent.
Then she asked. "Qingcheng, what do you think?"
"He is of great benefit to our Jade Court," Ye Qingcheng said directly.
She made no ntion of what had occurred or how to evaluate it, because that was beside the point.
The Jade Court was currently standing against the Azure Mystic Heaven and was in desperate need of strength.
So as long as he was useful, that was sufficient.
Everything else was unimportant.
All under heaven strive for profit; all under heaven move for gain.
Everything is decided by interest.
Ye Qingcheng saw this with perfect clarity, which was why she cut straight to the point.
"The Casting Crane Lineage has indeed gone too far. Over these years, not only outsiders but even disciples within our Jade Court have found their behavior disagreeable," the Queen Mother said mildly.
"Go and tell Di Sheli that, effective today, his position as Elder of Law Enforcent is stripped."
Di Sheli was the Grand Elder of the Casting Crane Lineage.
"Furthermore," the Queen Mother continued.
Though she remained hidden behind the mist, a gaze seed to pierce through it and settle upon Xia Changshan.
"I hear you have developed quite a fondness for Seven-Colored Glazed Stones recently."
At these words, Xia Changshan's face changed drastically.
She imdiately dropped to her knees, and said in terror. "Queen Mother, spare my life! I was montarily bewitched, I accepted gifts from the Casting Crane Lineage."
"I will not kill you. Leave the Heavenly Mountain," the Queen Mother said calmly.
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