After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 276 Competition
Upon hearing this, everyone on the back mountain of the Tianhe Blade Sect fell silent.

The elders and hall masters, who had been overjoyed, looked at Linghu Yue with a hint of doubt on their faces.

At this moment, the tall, thin old man stared at Linghu Yue for a while, then suddenly asked:
"Who is Linghu Zhen to you?"

Upon hearing this, Linghu Yue turned to look at the tall, thin old man, narrowed his eyes, and said:
"So there are still people who remember my father."

Upon hearing Linghu Zhen's name, the expressions of the surrounding elders and hall masters changed for a moment, and one of them suddenly realized and said:

"No wonder you wanted the position of sect leader; it turns out it was because of your father."

The Heavenly River Saber Sect Master, who had initially shown a strange expression, now appeared quite calm and spoke to Linghu Yue:

"You want the position of sect leader? Of course, there's no problem. As long as you can help the sect resolve the current crisis, I will naturally give you the position of sect leader afterward."

However, the tall, thin old man looked at Linghu Yue, shook his head, and said:

"The position of sect leader should be held by the most capable person. Since you have comprehended the Heavenly River Blade Intent, you are naturally qualified to compete for the position of sect leader, but..."

At this point, the tall, thin old man suddenly changed the subject:

"However, you should not ask for the position of sect leader at this time. This is taking advantage of our vulnerability. Even if the sect leader agrees to it, we will never recognize your position as sect leader."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding elders and hall masters all nodded in agreement, and one of them spoke indifferently:

"The Heavenly River Blade Sect doesn't need a sect leader with an impure mind, nor does it need someone like that to save us. We've long since disregarded life and death."

Upon hearing this, Linghu Yue gripped the blazing sword intent in his hand, glanced around at the crowd, and suddenly sneered, saying:

"What a fine description of 'moral impurity'! It was you who imposed the words 'moral impurity' on my father back then, causing him to suffer all kinds of humiliation from everyone in the family, and finally die in depression with severe injuries."

"Now you're putting those four words on my head, so I'd like to see what your fate would be without me, Linghu Yue?"

At this moment, the Heavenly River Saber Sect Master beside him frowned slightly, looked at Linghu Yue, and sighed:
“You’ve misunderstood. Your father did make a mistake back then. He was quite talented in martial arts, but he went astray and used insidious methods to attack his fellow disciples during a sect competition, almost causing their deaths.”

"He should have been severely punished and expelled from the sect, but the sect elders, considering it was his first offense, only demoted him to a menial disciple. However, he was too weak-willed and ultimately could not overcome his own inner demons, dying of depression at a young age."

"enough!"

However, Linghu Yue completely ignored the explanation from the Tianhe Saber Sect Master. His expression suddenly turned ferocious, and he pointed his saber directly at the Tianhe Saber Sect Master, saying:
“You hypocrites, I don’t want to hear your excuses. Today I have comprehended the Heavenly River Blade Intent on my own. You either agree to my demands and give me the position of sect leader right now.”

"Either you obediently go and die, burying the Tianhe Blade Sect in the hands of the Heavenly Alliance, and becoming the true sinners of the Tianhe Blade Sect."

As he spoke, a mocking sneer suddenly appeared on Linghu Yue's young face, and he said:

"I want to make all of you kneel down and beg me, a man of questionable character, or you will all die."

Upon hearing this, everyone around fell silent, and no one spoke.

At this moment, the disciple who had been following the tall, thin old man said nothing, but silently turned around and left the back mountain to continue walking towards the front of the sect.

Then, the second disciple turned around and followed, leaving without saying a word.

Then came the third person, the fourth person...

Everyone turned away, no one went to ask Linghu Yue for help, everyone chose to face death calmly...

Several sect elders and hall masters shook their heads, no longer looking at Linghu Yue and the Heavenly River Blade Intent in his hand, and also turned to leave.

At this moment, Tianhe Blade Sect member glanced at Linghu Yue in front of him, wanting to say something, but when he caught a glimpse of the departing disciples out of the corner of his eye, he ultimately said nothing.

He simply turned slowly, gazing quietly with a look of satisfaction at these children who were no match for Linghu Yue and had not comprehended the Heavenly River Saber Stele...

"Very well, so you're not afraid of death? Then I'll wait and see what kind of regretful expressions you'll have when you see your relatives, friends, and disciples dying one by one!"

Upon seeing this scene, the young Linghu Yue roared hysterically, his face turning into that of a vengeful and vengeful demon!

Meanwhile, the sect leader of the Tianhe Blade Sect, who was standing to the side, no longer paid any attention to Linghu Yue and simply sighed softly.

As for his sighs, they weren't for Linghu Yue, but for his disciples in the distance.

……

Just as Linghu Yue was comprehending the Heavenly River Saber Stele, Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao, who had been personally untied by the Heavenly River Saber Sect Master, had already secretly slipped away from the back mountain.

The two figures darted swiftly between houses and forests, their minds preoccupied with keeping up with their master Bai Zihua and fighting a fierce battle against the invading Tianxia Alliance.

However, at that moment, the Heavenly River Blade Intent that Linghu Yue had comprehended soared into the sky, attracting the attention of the two, causing Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao to turn around and look.

"What's going on? Such a powerful sword intent!"

Qin Hao's expression was strange, clearly unaware of what had happened in the back mountain that had unleashed such a powerful sword intent.

Shangguan Qingqing frowned slightly, glanced at the soaring sword intent, then looked away and said:

"Perhaps the sect leader and one of the elders are in seclusion practicing their swordsmanship, hoping to break through on the battlefield to fight and defend the sect?"

"In that case, we can't hold back anymore. We must do our best and use all our skills. As long as we have a breath left, we must not fall."

Upon hearing this, Qin Hao nodded in strong agreement.

Before long, the two arrived at the mountainside of the sect, where there was a huge platform, which was the training ground where the sect disciples usually practiced martial arts and swordsmanship.

The World Alliance, having besieged the Heavenly River Saber Sect for a long time without success, recently conceived the idea of ​​engaging the Heavenly River Saber Sect in a one-on-one battle.

But the Heavenly River Blade Sect was no coward, so they were naturally not afraid!
The members of the sect were all unwilling to be cowards and wanted to fight the other side, so they all agreed to the suggestion made by the fifth deputy leader.

Several powerful sect elders guarded the mechanism formation, and successively sent out experts from their sects to fight against the people of the World Alliance, with both sides fighting to the death.

Even the sect leader of the Tianhe Blade Sect couldn't sit still and personally fought the fifth deputy alliance leader and the sect leader of the Golden Armor Sect for hundreds of rounds.

So when Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao arrived at the training ground, they were shocked to see that a large area below the mountainside of the Tianhe Blade Sect had been almost completely destroyed!

"The sect leader is still incredibly powerful. I remember there used to be a hundred-zhang-long boulder there, but now it has been cut in half horizontally. It's clearly the sect leader's doing." Qin Hao exclaimed in amazement. To be honest, they had rarely seen the Heavenly River Blade Sect's sect leader make a move before. It was only under these circumstances that they could witness their sect leader's true strength.

"Stop lamenting, let's go into battle first."

Shangguan Qingqing withdrew her gaze and immediately went to the elder guarding the formation, requesting him to open the formation stone and let the two of them go out to fight with the people of the World Alliance.

The protective array of the Tianhe Blade Sect is called the "Heavenly Blade Thousand Mountains Array," which combines the Eight Trigrams Formation and the mechanical techniques of the Lu Gong Temple. After hundreds of years of maintenance and improvement, its defensive power remains extremely strong.

Temporarily holding off the experts from the World Alliance shouldn't be a big problem. However, the World Alliance members have been trying their best to break the formation, so it's unrealistic for the Heavenly River Blade Sect to rely on this formation indefinitely.

In fact, Luo Shen Peak also had a protective mechanism array, but Luo Shen Peak had dominated the martial arts world for many years and believed that no one would dare to invade the heart of the sect. Moreover, they did not think that they would have to use a mechanism array when facing a mere Tian Jin Guard.

Therefore, Luo Shen Peak never used the grand formation. Later, when the situation changed drastically and the Luo Shen Peak leader and the four Venerables all perished, Luo Shen Peak naturally had no need to use the grand formation anymore, and everyone either fled or surrendered.

Of course, even if Luo Shen Feng did use its protective formation in the end, it would not have been able to stop Li Musheng, who single-handedly killed the sect leader and the four venerable ones of Luo Shen Feng.

At this moment, the elder guarding the formation frowned and glanced at Shangguan Qingqing and the other person when he heard that they were about to leave the formation.

However, he ultimately did not stop them, but simply opened a narrow gap in the rows of black iron mountains in front of them, just enough for two people to pass through.

"Thank you, elder."

Shangguan Qingqing and the other person clasped their hands in greeting and then immediately headed towards the narrow crevice.

The elder guarding the formation watched the two figures disappear into the distance, sighed softly, and said:

"You don't need to blame yourselves. The sect's current situation has nothing to do with you. It is a choice made by the entire sect."

The elder guarding the formation naturally recognized the two who had made a name for themselves throughout the Heavenly River Blade Sect, and knew that after they left this formation, their fate would inevitably be death.

Therefore, he wanted to resolve their conflict at the last moment so that they wouldn't have to die with guilt.

At this moment, as the voice of the guardian elder rang in Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao's ears, the two did not stop walking, but their expressions gradually darkened.

"Junior sister, did we do something wrong?"

As Qin Hao stepped out of the Iron Mountain crevice, he began to waver for the first time over taking action against the White Sand Gang.

Previously, he was not afraid of death and believed that the sect was not afraid of death, so he was determined to avenge his junior brothers and sisters and destroyed the White Sand Gang.

But now, seeing that the Heavenly River Blade Sect was about to be destroyed because of him, he suddenly felt great regret.

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Qingqing remained silent. She reached into her robes and pulled out a token, gazing at the three large characters "Tianjin Guard" on it. She exhaled softly and said:
“We did nothing wrong. The fault lies with the World Alliance. They indiscriminately killed innocent people. They killed our junior brothers and sisters.”

As she spoke, Shangguan Qingqing reached out and patted Qin Hao on the shoulder, saying solemnly:

"Senior brother, no matter how slim the chance is, I will do everything I can to save the sect."

Immediately, Shangguan Qingqing held the token in her hand and headed towards the martial arts stage below.

Meanwhile, on the training ground, there were already more than a dozen disciples of the Heavenly River Blade Sect fighting against the people of the World Alliance. Every sword and every slash was a killing move, aiming to kill their opponent!

Furthermore, the training ground was covered in bloodstains, with numerous mangled corpses of disciples and followers lying on both sides.

When Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao arrived, their master Bai Zihua was already engaged in a fierce battle with a master from the World Alliance.

The terrifying blades and countless palm prints clashed against each other, and the terrifying aftershocks even ripped up a thick layer of soil from the surrounding forests that had already been leveled.

In an instant, the ground cracked, dirt flew everywhere, and the earth shook violently.

"call out!"

A blazing blade of light flashed by, and the next moment, a heart-wrenching scream of pain echoed from the dust-covered ground.

One of the Tianxia Alliance experts who was fighting Bai Zihua had one arm severed by a lightning-fast blade, which flew high into the air, spraying crimson blood into the sky.

Then, Bai Zihua seized the opportunity to kill him while he was still weak, and immediately pounced on him, wanting to take advantage of the situation to strike again and cut off his head.

However, at this moment, a figure shrouded in golden light suddenly rose from the other side of the martial arts stage and, without warning, unleashed a golden fist imprint several feet long at Bai Zihua.

"Shameless!"

Bai Zihua's pupils shrank instantly. He could naturally sense the terror of the opponent's punch. He immediately sheathed his sword and turned to dodge the golden fist imprint that was tearing through the air.

The expert from the World Alliance who had lost an arm escaped with his life. He immediately retreated and came behind the figure shrouded in golden light, bowing respectfully:

"Thank you for saving me, Sect Leader."

The leader of the Golden Armor Sect waved his hand and said:
"Go down and recover from your injuries first; you are no match for this man."

Then, the leader of the Golden Armor Sect squinted and looked at Bai Zihua on the other side of the martial arts stage.

At this moment, Bai Zihua immediately retreated after dodging the fist imprint.

Upon witnessing what had just happened, Shangguan Qingqing and Qin Hao were both filled with apprehension for their master and immediately rushed forward to inquire about his condition.

Bai Zihua shook his head, indicating that he was fine, then looked at the Golden Armor Sect Master and directly cursed:
"The World Alliance is indeed full of shameless scoundrels. They agreed to a fair fight with no regard for life or death, yet their dignified sect leader shamelessly resorted to sneak attacks. Aren't they afraid of spreading the word and becoming a laughingstock throughout the martial arts world?"

Upon hearing this, the Golden Armor Sect Master's face darkened, and he was about to speak.

At this moment, a young man with a full head of silver hair, who looked to be in his thirties, soared into the sky from the foot of the mountain and instantly stood beside the Golden Armor Sect Master.

The silver-haired youth, with an arrogant look in his eyes, glanced at Bai Zihua opposite him with his hands behind his back and laughed:

"Don't worry, Sect Master. As long as everyone in the Heavenly River Blade Sect is killed, this news will never get out."

Upon hearing this, the Golden Armor Sect Master turned to look at Huo Linfei, who had just arrived. His gloomy expression vanished, replaced by a smile. He cupped his hands and said:
"Alliance Leader Huo is absolutely right!"

(End of this chapter)