Multicolored light soared into the sky and lingered in midair, revealing a figure of breathtaking elegance.
Mo Liusu stood there, her white robes fluttering, a treasured sword in hand, her whole body radiating a sacred aura.
In a flash she moved — fingers pressed into a sword seal, she slashed a sharp arc at the heavens.
“Boom!”
The layered clouds split apart, revealing ten thousand li of clear blue sky!
“Rise, sword formation!
Come forth, arts of the Dao!”
She chanted softly, her gentle voice lingering like music, and in the next instant formation after formation flared to life across the Yuqing Sect — eighty-one in all, each one corresponding to a disciple on the high platform.
At the sight, Zhou Tong finally relaxed.
Just as he’d suspected, these people had indeed reused the old formations!
As if sensing something, the eighty-one figures on the platform began to wield their swords in unison, each performing a different sword technique with practiced ease, as though they had rehearsed it a thousand times.
Just then, Mo Liusu’s sword came slashing down, and at the base of the platform an even greater sword formation materialized, encompassing everything within it.
“So this is the rite that draws the gaze of the Way of Heaven?
It’s so grand and vast that it takes my breath away.”
The elders of the other sects who had come to attend found it hard to breathe — it was the first time they had ever witnessed such a sight.
There was no doubt that this was a rite for communing with the Way of the Sword.
Once the gaze of the Way of Heaven descended, Tang Qi’s sword cultivation would surely undergo a qualitative leap!
Before the words had faded, countless heavenly treasures and rare herbs soared into the air and burst open, dissolving into pure aura that converged around Tang Qi on the platform.
The sight made the crowd gasp.
Every single one of those treasures was priceless, yet the Yuqing Sect had burned through them without hesitation.
Just how much did they value this disciple?
“See that, you cripple?
This is the treatment Junior Brother deserves.
You’ll never measure up to him!”
Ge Hongqiu was still hopping around, racking her brains to break through Zhou Tong’s composure.
She clearly knew very well what the old Zhou Tong cared about most — a pity, then, that the old Zhou Tong no longer existed.
“Scram!”
The answer was another resounding slap.
Without even turning her head, the Little Vixen sent her flying.
“Pfft!”
Ge Hongqiu spat out a mouthful of blood, her eyes burning with resentment — but no one paid her any mind.
Up on the platform, Tang Qi opened his eyes and rose slowly to his feet.
He gazed down at the crowd below, his eyes sweeping over them until he found Zhou Tong at once.
“Truly nothing more than an ant!”
He curved his lips into a smile, bursting with pride and high spirits.
From this moment on, he would leave Zhou Tong far behind — the two of them could never be mentioned in the same breath again!
“Reach to heaven, bind the earth, draw out the Great Dao — sword, come to me!”
Tang Qi roared, and a golden longsword shot through the air to land in his palm.
This was the Sword of the Way of Heaven — a ceremonial weapon, yet one that could still command supremacy among swords.
As Tang Qi wielded it to perform his sword arts, his body erupted with radiance that blazed for ten thousand zhang.
Strange ripples spread across the heavens above.
The crowd held their breath as they saw a colossal vertical eye open and close — the Eye of Heaven itself — its gaze locking onto Tang Qi.
“It worked!
It actually worked!
This Tang Qi is defying the heavens — he’s secured his place as the number one of the younger generation!”
“Hahaha…
this feeling — truly extraordinary.”
Tang Qi laughed aloud as visible ripples of sword intent poured into his body along that gaze, making his aura razor-sharp, like a sword just drawn from its sheath.
Mo Liusu and Chen Ling’er both turned toward where Zhou Tong sat.
But Zhou Tong showed no sign of anything amiss — he was even raising his cup with the Little Vixen, drinking merrily, utterly at ease.
“Still putting up a front at a time like this — how pathetic.
He’s like a clown capering on a stage!”
said Chen Ling’er.
“Xiao Qi, how do you feel?”
Mo Liusu leaned down to ask Tang Qi.
“In answer to Master, my comprehension of the sword has multiplied severalfold — and this is only the beginning.
Once I’ve fully digested all these insights, no one of my generation will be able to withstand even a single exchange with me!”
“Good.
I hope you won’t disappoint your Master’s expectations — unlike someone who forgot every kindness and kicked away the bridge after crossing the river, earning the contempt of the whole world!”
“Rest assured, Master — I’m nothing like him.
I will never let you down!”
The Little Vixen poked Zhou Tong, her face full of teasing mirth.
“Look at that — the two of them, Master and disciple, what a brilliant performance!”
Zhou Tong nodded.
“Don’t rush.
There’s even more exciting stuff to come!”
Before the words had faded, a sudden change occurred.
A violent rumble exploded around the platform, and all eighty-one disciples vomited blood at once, their auras withering away.
Not only that — the main formation and the eighty-one sub-formations trembled violently, emitting an eerie glow, and cracks began to appear all over them.
“What’s happening?”
The crowd was alarmed, and in the next moment felt a biting chill that made their scalps tingle.
Looking up, they saw that the Eye of Heaven had changed — no longer gazing calmly, it now burned with fury, its glare plunging down wrapped in murderous intent.
“Aaah…
why?
What’s happening?!”
Tang Qi’s expression twisted in terror as his skin split open all over his body, blood bursting forth until he was barely recognizable as human.
“Master, save me!
Master!
Master!”
“What on earth is going on?
Where are the disciples of the Formation Hall?
Someone step forward and explain!”
Mo Liusu roared.
Chen Ling’er’s face was grim, while Ge Hongqiu and Jiang Yuyao shouted even more stridently.
“Formation Hall, look what you’ve done!
If anything happens to Junior Brother, I’ll have your lives for it!”
Under the furious gazes of these several madwomen, the senior disciple of the Formation Hall stepped forward trembling.
“Reporting to True One Mo…
this accident came far too suddenly.
All of the formations have cracked…”
“Don’t give me that nonsense.
If they’re cracked, then hurry up and fix them!”
Mo Liusu cut him off, ordering him with an icy expression.
At these words, a trace of bitterness appeared on the senior disciple’s face.
“True One, we can’t repair them.”
Mo Liusu grew even angrier.
“Utter nonsense!
This vast Yuqing Sect, the renowned Formation Hall — how could it possibly be unable to repair a few paltry formations?!”
“True One, your disciple truly would not dare lie.
These formations — never mind the Yuqing Sect — across the entire world, the only person I can think of with both the skill and the nerve to repair them is one man!”
At that, not only Mo Liusu but everyone else perked up and pricked up their ears.
In the past century, the Yuqing Sect had been the only one to successfully draw the gaze of the Way of Heaven.
Since then, countless sects had probed for the secret behind it, only to come up empty-handed.
Now it seemed the key to it all lay with this man.
“Who exactly is this man?
Bring him here — he won’t go without his rewards!”
The senior disciple of the Formation Hall trembled slightly, his expression indescribably strange.
“True One…
this man was once a disciple of our sect, but Your Excellency drove him out.
He’s on the scene right now, only…”
At these words, the crowd felt as though struck by lightning — it was no different from naming him outright!
For a moment, Mo Liusu’s expression was priceless.
Chen Ling’er too was shocked.
She remembered now — it had indeed been Zhou Tong who personally inscribed the formations back then; she simply hadn’t given it a second thought.
Now that the old matter had been dragged up again, she felt a shock the likes of which she had never experienced!