Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

Amidst howling winds, the wind howled across the sword platform.

The First Elder Zhao Wuji, whose natal flying sword had been broken by Lin Wuwen, was now deathly pale, his eyes filled with horror and despair.

He couldn't understand how Lin Wuwen, who was once on par with him in strength and whose qi and blood were even depleted due to practicing demonic arts, could now have such an unbelievably powerful physical body.

"Senior Brother Zhao, run! Something's wrong with this monster!"

The Second Elder screamed and his figure transformed into a streak of crimson flame, attempting to flee away from the sword platform.

"Leave? Did I say you could leave?"

Chu Chang stood behind, hands clasped behind his back, a cold smile playing on his lips. With a slight movement of his divine sense, the soul imprint in his sea of ​​consciousness instantly issued a kill order to Lin Wuwen.

"roar!"

A muffled roar escaped from Lin Wuwen's withered throat. He slammed his right foot down on the sword platform forged from black steel, and with a deafening crash, the hard surface of the sword platform instantly collapsed, creating a deep pit several meters in diameter, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading wildly.

Using this violent recoil force, Lin Wuwen's figure moved as fast as a dark golden lightning bolt, instantly leaving behind a series of solid afterimages in his place.

In a fraction of a second, he traversed a hundred feet of void and appeared directly behind the Second Elder who was fleeing in mid-air.

The Second Elder felt a chill run through his body, a bone-chilling sense of crisis shooting straight from his spine to the top of his head. He didn't even have time to turn his head, and could only frantically summon his protective magic weapon, a thick shield made from the shell of a third-tier Xuan Turtle.

"Black Turtle Shield, Yu!"

Buzz! A huge cyan tortoise shell phantom instantly condensed behind the Second Elder, exuding a calm and solid aura.

However, faced with this defense that was strong enough to withstand a full-force attack from an early-stage Purple Mansion Realm cultivator, Lin Wuwen simply raised his right hand expressionlessly, clenched his fist, and without using any fancy techniques, relied solely on the power of his reconstructed "Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Puppet" body to slam it down hard.

[Heavenly Demon Power, Unstoppable!]

boom!

The moment the heavy punch collided with the Xuan Turtle Shield, a deafening metallic roar erupted.

The seemingly indestructible phantom of the Xuan Turtle Shield shattered like fragile glass the moment it touched Lin Wuwen's fist. Immediately afterward, the force of Lin Wuwen's fist, undiminished, slammed into the Second Elder's back with overwhelming power.

puff!

This punch pierced right through the Second Elder's chest cavity!

Lin Wuwen's dark golden arm emerged from the Second Elder's chest, holding a Qi and Blood Golden Pill that was still pulsating slightly and emitting a faint red light.

"You...your physical body..."

The Second Elder's eyes widened, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from his mouth. The light in his eyes vanished in an instant.

Lin Wuwen withdrew his arm expressionlessly, and the Second Elder's body fell limply like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the sword platform and splattering blood.

"Second brother!"

Zhao Wuji and the Fourth Elder's eyes were bloodshot, and at the same time, a chilling coldness rose from their hearts.

A powerful expert at the early stage of the Purple Mansion Realm couldn't even withstand a single punch from Lin Wuwen! This wasn't some puppet; it was a killing machine devoid of pain and possessing immense strength!

"Fight them! Activate the mountain-protecting formation!"

The Fourth Elder roared, his face contorted in pain. As he frantically retreated, he pulled out a jade tablet radiating multicolored light from his robes—the secondary control hub of the Divine Sword Sect's "Nine Heavens Imperial Sword Array."

"As long as the great formation is activated and the Nine Heavens Sword Qi is attracted, even a peak Purple Mansion cultivator will die!" A hint of madness flashed in the Fourth Elder's eyes, and his true essence poured into the jade tablet like a tidal wave.

However, before he could activate the jade tablet, a cold voice suddenly rang in his ears.

"A grand formation? Do you think you still have a chance to activate it?"

Before anyone knew it, Chu Chang's figure had silently appeared above the Fourth Elder's head.

He looked down at the Fourth Elder from his high position, a faint golden light flashing in his eyes.

"You little beast, get out of my way!"

The Fourth Elder was filled with shock and rage. He swung his left hand violently, and a dense array of black poison needles transformed into a cloud of black mist, enveloping Chu Chang from all sides. This was his natal Yin weapon, the "Hundred Bone Soul-Devouring Needles," which was specifically designed to harm the soul and was extremely vicious.

Faced with the barrage of poisonous needles, Chu Chang didn't even flinch.

"【Magic Treasure Body】, open."

Chu Chang's chaotic essence trembled slightly, and a faint layer of golden Sanskrit appeared on his skin, giving him an aura of solidity and holiness akin to a Buddhist Vajra.

Ding ding ding!

Those "Hundred Bone Soul-Devouring Needles," which were powerful enough to annihilate the souls of ordinary Golden Core cultivators, only produced a series of dense clanging sounds when they struck Chu Chang, before breaking off and falling away one after another, unable to even pierce the hem of Chu Chang's clothes.

"What... what kind of monster's body is this?!" The Fourth Elder was terrified.

"die."

Chu Chang remained expressionless, raised his right hand, and pressed it down in the air.

A giant golden palm, several meters in size and formed from primordial chaos essence, crashed down with immense pressure.

Bang!

The Fourth Elder was slammed solidly onto the sword platform by this palm strike. A large, human-shaped crater instantly appeared on the hard black steel ground. All of the Fourth Elder's bones were shattered, and his nascent soul had not even had a chance to escape before it was torn to dust by the violent chaotic true essence.

Chu Chang withdrew his hand and stood in mid-air, his clothes fluttering, like a god.

Below, tens of thousands of Divine Sword Sect disciples stared in disbelief at this scene.

If Lin Wuwen's strength was due to his past as sect leader and his advanced cultivation, then the strength displayed by Chu Chang, an unassuming outer disciple, had completely overturned their understanding.

He physically withstood the poison needles of a top-grade magic weapon and killed a Purple Mansion stage elder with a single palm strike!

Such combat power is simply terrifying!

At this moment, among the elders who had colluded with Lin Wuwen on the sword platform, only the First Elder Zhao Wuji remained.

Watching his two colleagues behead themselves in the blink of an eye, Zhao Wuji knew he had no chance of escaping death. He gave a bitter laugh, his eyes filled with extreme madness.

"Hahaha! Good! What a fine Chu Chang, what a fine puppet!"

Zhao Wuji stared intently at Chu Chang, his teeth grinding together: "But do you think this is the end? The Xiao family outside the city, the Iron Sword Sect, and the Great Yuan City Lord—the power behind them is beyond your imagination! I'll be waiting for you on the road to the Yellow Springs!"

After he finished speaking, Zhao Wuji's body began to expand rapidly, and the Purple Mansion Dao Embryo within his body erupted with destructive light.

He's going to self-destruct too!

"Lin Wuwen, stop him," Chu Chang ordered calmly.

Whoosh!

Lin Wuwen appeared in front of Zhao Wuji as if by teleportation. He stretched out his hands and clamped them onto Zhao Wuji's shoulders like iron clamps. The demonic energy in his body surged wildly into Zhao Wuji's body, attempting to forcibly suppress the reversal of his true essence.

"It's no use! I cultivate the Heavenly Fire Drawing Technique. Once the self-destruction is activated, even gods can't save me! Let's die together!" Zhao Wuji laughed maniacally.

As Zhao Wuji's body swelled to its limit, a violent and destructive energy was about to explode on the sword platform.

At the critical moment, Chu Chang made his move.

He moved swiftly and landed in front of Zhao Wuji in an instant.

"I've said it before, you don't even have the right to self-destruct in front of me."

Chu Chang took a deep breath, and the "Taiyin Taiyang Chaos Body" within his body was fully activated. His left eye transformed into a blazing sun, and his right eye into a dark moon. He clasped his hands together in front of his chest, and then slowly opened them.

"Chaos returns to nothingness, all laws vanish!"

A gray, seemingly still ball of light condensed in Chu Chang's palm. He flicked his finger, and the gray ball of light instantly disappeared into Zhao Wuji's swollen body.

hum!

The crimson flames, which had been raging to the extreme, strangely subsided the moment they touched the gray sphere of light. It was as if a scorching hot iron had been thrown into ice water; the destructive energy was rapidly disintegrated and devoured by the primordial chaos.

Zhao Wuji's swollen body shrank at a visible speed.

"No...this is impossible...my cultivation...my true essence..."

Zhao Wuji was devastated to discover that all the power within him had vanished in an instant, leaving him a completely useless cripple with no cultivation.

Chu Chang looked at him expressionlessly, raised his right hand, formed a sword shape with his fingers, and lightly slashed at Zhao Wuji's neck.

puff.

A white-haired head flew high into the air, bringing with it a surge of hot blood.

Zhao Wuji, the Grand Elder of the Divine Sword Sect, has been executed!

With the fall of the last villain, the entire main peak sword platform once again fell into a deathly silence.

A strong stench of blood filled the air. The corpses of three Purple Mansion stage elders lay across the platform. Lin Wuwen, his hands covered in blood, stood silently behind Chu Chang, like a loyal demon guard.

Tens of thousands of Divine Sword Sect disciples looked at Chu Chang on the stage, their eyes filled with nothing but endless awe and fear.

Chu Chang slowly descended to the center of the sword platform. He looked around, and wherever his gaze fell, whether they were inner disciples or outer disciples, they all involuntarily lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Zhao Wuji, the Second Elder, and the Fourth Elder colluded with foreign enemies and harmed their fellow disciples. Their crimes are unforgivable, and they have now been executed!"

With the enhancement of true energy, Chu Chang's voice resounded like a great bell in the ears of every disciple.

"Although Lin Wuwen has been punished and turned into a puppet under my command, his position as the Sect Master of the Divine Sword Sect remains intact. From this day forward, I... am the Supreme Deacon of the Divine Sword Sect! Everyone in the Divine Sword Sect shall regard me as the Sect Master!"

After Chu Chang finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the remaining elders and deacons who were trembling below the stage.

"Do you have any objections?"

Upon hearing Chu Chang's words, several senior Golden Core elders who had not participated in the evil deeds exchanged glances. They were well aware of the current situation: Chu Chang had almost single-handedly slaughtered the Divine Sword Sect's top combat force. Now, Chu Chang was the absolute ruler of the Divine Sword Sect!

"We... pay our respects to the Supreme Deacon! We are willing to obey the Supreme Deacon's commands!"

With the death of the Grand Elder's confidant, how could the remaining elders dare to disobey in the slightest? They immediately knelt down in unison.

With a leader in place, the tens of thousands of ordinary disciples behind them also put down their flying swords and knelt down like a tidal wave, their shouts resounding through the sky:

"Greetings, Supreme Deacon!"

Chu Chang stood on the high platform, looking down at the dark mass of people kneeling below, a satisfied sneer appearing on his lips.

The Divine Sword Sect is now completely under his control.

"Get up, everyone."

Chu Chang flicked his sleeves, and Lin Wuwen behind him also bowed his head and stood to the side.

Chu Chang looked at the few Golden Core elders who had just surrendered, his eyes cold, and issued the order: "By my decree, the Divine Sword Sect shall seal its mountain gates from today onwards. Entry is permitted, but exit is forbidden. Furthermore, wipe out all remaining followers of Zhao Wuji and his ilk. Half a day from now, I will personally muster the troops to accompany me down the mountain!"

"Supreme Deacon...are we going there?" an elder asked tremblingly.

Chu Chang gazed in the direction of Dayuan City, his eyes revealing a murderous intent.

"The Xiao family, the Iron Sword Sect, the City Lord's Mansion... it's time for them to pay the blood debt they owe the Divine Sword Sect."