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

Three days later, a piece of news that shook the entire Great Yuan Dynasty resounded like thunder from the heavens among the major cultivation cities and sects.

Chu Chang, the newly appointed leader of the Divine Sword Sect and the Supreme Deacon, used the name of Lin Wuwen, the sect leader of the Divine Sword Sect, to publicly release stacks of blood-red secret letters and confessions through sound transmission arrays and flying swords.

"Starting in the 312th year of the Great Yuan Calendar, Lin Wuwen, the former sect leader of the Divine Sword Sect, joined forces with the Xiao family, the Iron Sword Sect, the Zhao family, and other forces outside the city to raise blood food in the restricted area outside the city, hunting down more than 5,000 rogue cultivators and sect disciples, extracting their souls and blood marrow to refine demonic arts..."

The evidence was irrefutable, and even included a diagram of the demonic power's operation, personally signed by Lin Wuwen, as well as stamped letters exchanged between various powerful forces.

In an instant, the entire cultivation world of the Great Yuan Dynasty was in an uproar.

"The Xiao family, the Iron Sword Sect... these prestigious families who usually spout righteousness and morality are actually doing such despicable things in secret!"

"No wonder so many people die in the restricted area every year, yet the government never thoroughly investigates; it turns out even the city lord's mansion has a hidden involvement!"

"The Divine Sword Sect suffered a great calamity and underwent an internal purge. I heard that a young powerhouse named Chu Chang took over and wiped out the entire Grand Elder's faction!"

Countless independent cultivators were outraged, and everyone in all sects, large and small, felt insecure. The pressure of public opinion was like a tsunami, pushing the Xiao family and the Iron Sword Sect to the forefront of public scrutiny.

However, at the heart of this storm, the Iron Sword Sect was on high alert.

Iron Sword Sect's headquarters, Iron Sword Mountain.

The entire mountain resembles a giant iron sword, its body black and red, barren of vegetation, exuding a tragic and heavy aura of war.

At this moment, the sect's protective formation, the "Mysterious Iron Heavenly Gang Formation," was already in full operation at the mountain gate, with a thick layer of black iron light curtain completely enveloping the entire mountain gate.

The atmosphere inside the main hall of the Iron Sword Sect was so oppressive it was suffocating.

"Damn it! How could that good-for-nothing Lin Wuwen have left behind so many letters as evidence? And he was even turned into a puppet!"

Iron Madman, the leader of the Iron Sword Sect, shattered the sandalwood table beside him with a single palm strike, his face turning ashen.

He was tall and strong, wearing heavy armor made of black iron, and exuded a powerful and oppressive aura of a late-stage Purple Mansion Realm cultivator.

"Sect Master, Chu Chang is now leading a large army of cultivators from the Divine Sword Sect towards us under the guise of upholding justice and cleaning up the sect! What should we do? Should we ask the City Lord's Mansion for help?" a Purple Mansion stage elder asked in a panic.

"Ask for help? The City Lord's Mansion is already avoiding us like the plague, how could they possibly risk the wrath of all the rogue cultivators for our sake?" A ruthless glint flashed in Tie Kuangtu's eyes. "However, my Iron Sword Sect has a 500-year-old heritage and profound foundation. How could the Divine Sword Sect easily take us down? If they dare to come, I will make sure they never return!"

However, what Tie Kuangtu didn't know was that Chu Chang's reason for choosing the Iron Sword Sect as his first target instead of attacking the wealthier Xiao family was not simply to "act on behalf of Heaven."

The more important reason lies hidden in a yellowed, tattered scroll in Lin Wuwen's storage bag.

The tattered scroll recorded that deep within the forbidden grounds of the Iron Sword Sect, a black broken sword named "Dust Breaker" was enshrined.

That broken sword, seemingly devoid of any spiritual energy fluctuations, is actually the only key to unlocking the ruins of an ancient sword immortal.

Lin Wuwen had been plotting for many years before his death, all to seize this sword once his strength reached the peak of the Purple Mansion realm.

Now, this broken sword is Chu Chang's possession.

Rumble!!

Suddenly, the thunderous roar of warships echoed in the sky outside Iron Sword Mountain.

Three enormous blue stone warships pierced through the clouds and hovered outside the Iron Sword Sect's mountain gate.

On the warship, the banners of the Divine Sword Sect fluttered in the wind, and thousands of Divine Sword Sect disciples stood with their hands on their swords, exuding a murderous aura.

At the bow of the foremost warship, Chu Chang, dressed in simple black robes, stood with his hands behind his back, calmly looking down at the Iron Sword Sect.

Beside him stood Lin Wuwen, dressed in a dark gold robe, his eyes vacant, like a loyal stone statue.

"Iron Madman, come out and face your death."

Chu Chang spoke softly, his voice not loud, but enveloped by the Chaos True Essence, it transformed into rolling thunder, piercing through the black iron light barrier and exploding directly in the ears of everyone in the Iron Sword Sect.

"Hmph! You brat, how dare you run wild in my Iron Sword Sect!!!"

With a loud shout, Tie Kuangtu, along with four Purple Mansion Elders, soared into the sky, facing Chu Chang across the protective light barrier.

Tie Kuangtu glanced at Lin Wuwen beside Chu Chang, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes. He then sneered, "Chu Chang, do you think you can swallow up my Iron Sword Sect just because you control Lin Wuwen? My Xuan Tie Tian Gang Formation is a fourth-order defensive formation. Even a peak Purple Mansion expert wouldn't be able to break it within half a day! When the envoy from the Great Yuan Dynasty arrives, you will be a traitor!"

"A grand formation?"

Chu Chang's lips curled up slightly, revealing a mocking smile.

"Lin Wuwen, let him see how you are different now compared to before."

"Yes, Master."

Lin Wuwen mechanically responded and took a step forward.

The next moment, the demonic energy within his body surged wildly, and countless twisted black runes appeared on his dark golden skin. As he formed hand seals, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of several miles instantly surged, transforming into a gigantic black and red demonic hand, hundreds of feet in size, above his head.

[Heavenly Demon Mountain-Destroying Hand!]

The demonic hand, blotting out the sky and carrying an intense aura of bloodshed and destruction, slammed down fiercely onto the black iron light barrier below.

"Arrogant! You think you can break my great formation with just a puppet?" Tie Kuangtu roared, frantically stabilizing the formation with his hands forming hand seals.

Boom! Great Yuan!

The colossal demonic hand slammed into the black iron light barrier, unleashing a deafening roar. The terrifying aftershocks transformed into a raging wind, snapping trees within a radius of several miles.

Click!

Before Iron Madman's incredulous eyes, the supposedly indestructible "Mysterious Iron Heavenly Gang Array" light screen suddenly developed countless spiderweb-like cracks upon contact. Then, with a crisp explosion, the entire light screen shattered, turning into a rain of black light that fell from the sky.

"Pfft!"

As the main force in charge of the formation, Tie Kuangtu and the four Purple Mansion Elders suffered a backlash at the same time, spitting out a mouthful of blood and retreating violently.

"One strike... just one strike and it broke through a fourth-tier grand formation?!"

Tie Kuangtu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and fear finally appeared in his eyes. This puppet's strength was several times greater than Lin Wuwen's in life!

"Disciples of the Divine Sword Sect, heed my command!"

Chu Chang slowly raised his right hand, his voice cold and ruthless.

"Eliminate evil completely. All cultivators of the Iron Sword Sect above the Purple Mansion level who collude with the demonic path and harm living beings shall be killed without exception. As for the remaining disciples, those who surrender shall not be killed."

"kill!!!"

With Chu Chang's command, the disciples of the Divine Sword Sect on the three warships charged into the Iron Sword Sect like tigers descending from the mountain, wielding countless flying swords.

Lin Wuwen transformed into a streak of blood-red light and headed straight for the four Purple Mansion Elders.

To Lin Wuwen now, cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage are as fragile as paper in his presence.

Within a few breaths, screams rang out one after another as Lin Wuwen tore the two Purple Mansion Elders to shreds, their Purple Mansions pulverized.

"You little beast, I'll fight you to the death!"

Iron Madman's eyes were bloodshot. Seeing his sect's foundation being destroyed, he went completely mad.

He reached out and grabbed at the air, and a massive black iron sword, over ten feet long and radiating a thick, dark light, landed in his hand.

A heavy sword has no edge; true skill lies in simplicity.

Iron Madman's life essence burned, pushing his late-stage Purple Mansion cultivation to its limit. He gripped his sword with both hands and slashed fiercely at Chu Chang in the air.

A jet-black sword beam, two hundred feet long, tore through the void, carrying a terrifying gravity capable of crushing mountains, and slashed down at Chu Chang.

Faced with this devastating sword strike, Chu Chang simply stood quietly in mid-air, without even using Lin Wuwen behind him.

"The law of gravity? Interesting, but it's all meaningless in the face of absolute power."

Chu Chang slowly clenched his right fist, and the chaotic true essence within his body boiled completely at that moment. On his fist, it seemed as if a golden sun was burning.

【Chaos Divine Fist: Great Yuan Breaks the Heavens!】

Chu Chang unleashed a punch.

There are no unnecessary changes, only the purest and most domineering power.

The golden fist light transformed into a pillar of light reaching the sky, instantly colliding with the dark, heavy sword light.

boom!!!

The golden and black lights intertwined wildly in mid-air, but only lasted for half a breath before the dark sword light was blasted into nothingness by the golden beam of light.

The fist's force remained undiminished, slamming into Iron Madman's Xuan Tie Heavy Sword with overwhelming power.

clang!

A crisp metallic snapping sound rang out.

Iron Madman's famous Xuan Tie Heavy Sword was shattered into several pieces by Chu Chang's punch.

The violent force of the punch poured onto his black iron heavy armor, causing the entire armor to dent instantly. Accompanied by a piercing sound of bones cracking, Iron Madman was like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the mountain below, creating a bottomless black hole.

"Sect Master!"

The only remaining elder of the Purple Mansion was so frightened that he dared not fight and turned to run away.

But before he could fly ten feet, Lin Wuwen appeared strangely in front of him, and a dark golden hand mercilessly gripped his head, the five fingers tightening.

puff.

Brains splattered, and the last Purple Mansion Elder perished.

Chu Chang's figure swayed and he landed beside the deep pit that Tie Kuangtu had smashed.

In the deep pit, Tie Kuangtu was covered in blood, his heavy armor was shattered, and the purple Dao Embryo in his body was covered with cracks. He was obviously not going to survive.

He stared intently at Chu Chang, his eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness.

"Who...who are you...how could the Great Yuan Dynasty have such a monster like you..."

Chu Chang looked at him expressionlessly, without answering his question. He simply pointed his finger, and a wisp of chaotic true essence pierced through Tie Kuangtu's brow, ending his life.

"Lin Wuwen, guard the outside."

"Yes, Master." Lin Wuwen stood guard at the edge of the deep pit, his whole body exuding a terrifying killing intent that kept strangers away.

Chu Chang followed the crack in the mountain and headed straight into the depths of the Iron Sword Sect's forbidden Iron Sword Cave.

Deep inside the cave, the air was filled with a pungent smell of rust and a faint stench of blood.

Chu Chang continued forward, passing through several protective formations that were no longer in charge, and finally arrived at a huge stone chamber.

In the center of the stone chamber stands an altar forged from ten-thousand-year-old cold iron.

Above the altar, a broken sword, entirely black and only half the length of an ordinary longsword, floats.

The broken sword looked ordinary, without even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy, and its surface was covered with a thick layer of rust.

However, the Taiyin-Taiyang Chaos Body within Chu Chang's body resonated strangely the moment it approached the broken sword.

"This is it."

Chu Chang walked to the altar, reached out, and grasped the hilt of the broken black sword.

boom!

Just as Chu Chang grasped the broken sword, an extremely desolate, ancient, and violent sword intent surged wildly into his sea of ​​consciousness along his arm.

In the dim light, Chu Chang seemed to see the figure of a towering sword immortal, who swung his sword and cleaved the entire world in two with a terrifying sight.

Deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, the previously quiet Chaos Cauldron began to hum with excitement.

"As expected, it's a key to an ancient sword immortal's relic. The aura emanating from it... surpasses even the Purple Mansion realm, and may even surpass the Nascent Soul realm..."

A sharp glint flashed in Chu Chang's eyes. He forcibly suppressed the violent sword intent on the broken sword with his divine sense and put it into his storage bag.

With this broken sword, if he were to advance his strength further, he would be able to explore that ruin. At that time, the small pond of the Great Yuan Dynasty would no longer be able to confine him.

When Chu Chang walked out of the Iron Sword Sect's forbidden area, the battle outside was nearing its end.

Lin Wuwen slaughtered almost all of the high-ranking cultivators of the Iron Sword Sect, and most of the remaining ordinary disciples chose to surrender under the siege of the Divine Sword Sect's army.

The entire Iron Sword Mountain was now adorned with the banners of the Divine Sword Sect.

"Supreme Elder, the Iron Sword Sect's treasure pavilion has been sealed off, and all the prisoners have been taken into custody. Please give your instructions, Supreme Elder!" A Purple Mansion Elder, the leader of the Divine Sword Sect, jogged over and respectfully asked for instructions.

"All the items in the treasure pavilion will be transported back to the Divine Sword Sect."

"yes!!"