Heroes Return

Inside the Sword Hall, the animals on the mountain peaks once again left their burrows and began to move. In a plaza-like area within the Sword Hall, Dao Qizhan slowly stood up, his gaze falling upon the hundreds of Sword Hall disciples before him.

"This is my own Dao! The Dao that conquers all, the Dao of the strongest. The mysteries of time and the Great Dao are infinite, but no matter how profound or obscure they are, they are meaningless if they cannot defeat my Dao." A clear, cold voice rang out from Dao Qizhan: "From today onwards, I will be leaving the Sword Hall. Take care, everyone."

"May our sect leader attain the Great Dao and live forever!" The disciples of the First Middle School Sword Hall below all shouted to Dao Qizhan.

Dao Qizhan, as the leader of the Sword Hall, undoubtedly held the position for the shortest period in the history of the Sword Hall, serving only one year from the time he took over the position to the time he relinquished it. However, within that one year, Dao Qizhan had already reached heights and achievements that no previous leader of the Sword Hall had ever attained.

"The Tai Chi Eye and the sect leader's token are both here." Dao Qizhan said, and a jade tablet and two eyeballs appeared in front of the disciples of the Sword Hall: "As for the next sect leader, I will give you ten years to decide one based on your strength."

"As ordered!"

"Finally, return these two books to my Sword Hall's library. Seal them away permanently." Dao Qizhan said, and two more books appeared in his hand once more: *True Martial Arts: The Chapter of Life and Death* and *True Martial Arts: The Chapter of Yin and Yang*.

Upon seeing these two books, even the older members of the Sword Hall couldn't help but show expressions of surprise. They hadn't expected that Dao Qizhan would possess two True Martial Divine Skills simultaneously. Although the Eight Gates of True Martial Arts all had terrifying side effects, throughout history and across the world, those who mastered the Eight Gates of True Martial Arts undoubtedly became world-class powerhouses.

I guess only Dao Qizhan would be completely unmoved after obtaining these two books, right?

After handing the two books to the Sword Hall elder, Dao Qizhan turned and walked out of the Sword Hall. At this moment, Dao Qizhan's terrible sense of direction was gone. Actually, Dao Qizhan wasn't bad at directions; the reason he couldn't find his way was simply because he hadn't thought about such trivial matters. But now, even without thinking, Dao Qizhan wouldn't mistakenly take any wrong turns.

Watching Dao Qizhan's departing figure, the disciples of the Sword Hall all wore expressions of astonishment. They never imagined that this most terrifying genius in the Sword Hall's history had risen from a level of calm to a terrifying realm beyond their reach in just one year.

As for where Dao Qizhan went after descending the mountain this time, and whether he would return, everyone in the Sword Hall knew the answer.

He won't be returning, because he's going to seek a breakthrough. To seek the opportunity to transcend the Great Dao. As for the first person he'll be looking for, the members of the Sword Hall know very well. And that person isn't Lin Jie.

……

At the summit of the world's highest snow-capped mountain, a man and a comical figure sat facing each other, drinking a beverage they had somehow acquired. These two were none other than the Demon and the Comedian.

"It's finally here! Hahaha! How interesting! The Empress Dowager is gone!" With laughter, the demon stood up abruptly, looking at the distant sky: "I never imagined there would be such a genius in this world. Although his aptitude isn't top-tier, his comprehension and willpower... throughout history, you can be the first! Hahaha!"

"..." As the demon's voice fell, a figure appeared before him. This person was none other than Dao Qizhan. He had only left the Sword Hall a few minutes ago, but in those few minutes, Dao Qizhan had already found the demon.

"What a pity, it seems I won't be able to see your final battle!" Looking at Dao Qizhan, the demon's face showed an excited smile: "I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly."

“It’s not fast,” Dao Qizhan said calmly. “For me, it’s been too long.”

"Hahaha! If those guys from the era when I rose to power heard you say that, they'd probably be so angry they'd die!" The demon laughed, and a black aura began to emanate from his body. "Are you planning to use me to test your sword? Too bad, I can only break your sword!"

The moment Dao Qizhan appeared, the demon understood that to achieve transcendence, he naturally needed to resolve all karmic ties. And the demon who nearly killed Dao Qizhan was, of course, someone Dao Qizhan was looking for. Before achieving transcendence, he had to defeat everyone who had surpassed him to maintain his mental state.

However, to Mo Du's surprise, Dao Qizhan uttered a nearly arrogant remark after hearing Mo's words.

"To deal with you, I will only need to use one sword."

third chapter

"Hahahahahaha!!! I have lived for tens of thousands of years and have seen countless gods, demons, and spirits! I have seen countless powerful beings, but I have never seen anyone like you who dares to speak so arrogantly as to say that you can kill me with one sword! Hahahaha! Interesting! Truly interesting!" Faced with Dao Qizhan's words, the demon finally burst into wild laughter after a brief silence: "Don't you know that back then, Heaven wanted to take me away, but in the end, it did not succeed."

"Heavens?" Dao Qizhan looked puzzled upon hearing the demon's words: "In the end, they will be defeated."

"Hahahaha! Good lad! I thought I was arrogant enough, but I never expected to meet someone even more arrogant today. Very well! Let me see your skills." The demon said, but his gaze fell on the comical survivor beside him. With a flick of his hand, an ancient-looking bamboo scroll appeared in the demon's hand: "This demonic scripture records everything I have learned in my life. It would be a waste to keep it here for so long. Brother Ji, you can take it. When you find a suitable person, pass it on."

After saying that, the demon threw the bamboo slips aside, creating a comical scene.

Survival Comics, after receiving the bamboo scroll, still looked at the demon.

"Hahahaha! You should leave! Brother Ji, it would be dangerous for you to be here during this battle. And you can rest assured, although he is indeed very strong, since I was able to defeat him once, I can defeat him a second time! Giving you this bamboo slip is just in case." Laughing, the demon simply waved his hand. A black power swept across the entire snow-capped mountain peak.

In the blink of an eye, the farcical survival had vanished from the spot.

"Have you finished explaining?" Seeing the demon's movements, Dao Qizhan slowly drew the Extinction Sword from his hand.

"Have you finished explaining? Have you finished explaining too?" He smiled and said to Dao Qizhan, "Our Dao is the Dao that we both forged from the bottom up. I suppose there are still people in this world who can learn it. It would be such a pity if it were lost like this."

"My path was undiscovered before me, and will remain unmastered after me." Upon hearing the demon's words, Dao Qizhan gave a different answer: "In the end, there can only be one strongest."

"Can there only be one at the very top? Hahaha!! In your heart, can no one after you surpass you?" Hearing Dao Qizhan's words, the demon's face once again revealed a smile: "You really are the most arrogant person in the world! Compared to you, my ten thousand years of lifespan is actually quite humble. Hahahaha!"

"If I can be surpassed by future generations, then my Dao will not be the strongest." Hearing the demon's words, Dao Qizhan was not particularly angry. There was no exaggeration involved; Dao Qizhan was simply stating the facts calmly, and the demon naturally knew that he was just stating the truth.

But the more this was the case, the more terrifying Dao Qizhan became. From the moment Dao Qizhan drew his sword, the sea of ​​clouds beneath their feet dispersed, and for tens of kilometers around Dao Qizhan, not a single cloud appeared in the sky.

Far away on the other side of the world, beyond the boundaries of space and time, right there in the gap between space and time, lies a special alternate dimension. This is a transitional realm for the gods.

The gods who refused to participate in the cleansing of humanity live here. The melodious, hidden music doesn't just resonate in this beautiful world; the entire space is filled with a wondrous and beautiful scene.

However, the gods living in this space have lost their usual tranquility today. Almost everyone is looking in the same direction in shock, and in the eyes of the gods looking in that direction, it seems as if they are seeing a scene of the end of the world.

"What...what...what is this power? Has the Sword Hall gone mad? How could they allow such a terrifying power to grow! Are all those so-called immortals insane?" Looking at the sky under the rainbow in the distance, Cupid, who had just returned from the outside world, once again showed a shocked expression: "What...what...what a joke!!!! We just recovered from the shock of the end-of-days calamity descending once again! Why is something so terrifying coming up right away!"

As he spoke, Cupid, terrified, covered his head and ran to the grass, curling up into a ball.

"Well, what's meant to happen will happen, it's unavoidable. It seems we gods, in the end, cannot escape our fate of destruction." A beautiful golden-haired goddess came to Cupid's side and patted his head. Then she said helplessly, "The age of the gods has passed, and we are merely waiting for the final reckoning. It's nothing."

“But humanity shouldn’t end, right? The universe shouldn’t end, right?” Cupid scratched his head and said helplessly, “I just got back, I just breathed a sigh of relief! What is this power that suddenly appeared? I’ve been a god for so long, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen such pure power!”

“Yes, the purest destructive power in the world.” The goddess beside Cupid sighed softly, “It seems that the Sword Hall planned to completely destroy this world hundreds of years ago. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have allowed this world-destroying power to grow to its current state.”

The gods, though unaware of its source, could sense what it represented. It was a pure power of destruction—the power to destroy all forces, all concepts, and all laws. As long as a concept existed, it would be annihilated. And the path to transcendence offered by this power was surprisingly simple and brutal: to destroy all universes, naturally, was transcendence.

In other words, if that power continues to grow, its ultimate evolution will inevitably lead to the complete destruction of this world. However, the gods here can do nothing but watch it continue to grow.

The reason is simple: the gods now understand that they can no longer stop this force from growing stronger.

The Seven Cuts of the Great Dao aim to annihilate everything in this world from the very beginning.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Are we just supposed to watch everything happen like this? I haven't lived enough yet!!" Cupid's face showed fear as he listened to the other person's words.

"We can only pray that someone will kill him."

Inside the Hero Association headquarters, Fenrir was suddenly awakened from his sleep. As he looked in a certain direction, he couldn't help but utter a slightly fearful sound.

"Is that guy a monster? Is he going to turn this world into nothingness?"

……

On the other side, Dao Qizhan's sword was already pointed at the demon in the distance. Upon sensing Dao Qizhan's sword intent, the demon's expression completely changed.

"Hahahaha! I never thought I would see such a will in my lifetime! This life has truly been worthwhile!" The demon's expression had changed from arrogance to solemnity, from casualness to seriousness: "Now, it seems that I can only hope that Brother Ji can find me a suitable successor."

After saying these words, his body began to swell, and endless black energy swept across the world. The sun vanished from the sky, plunging the world into darkness. The world seemed to fall into a new silence. Only the demon's eyes remained, watching over the entire world.

"Let me use my last breath to witness your power!" It's not hard to tell from the demon's words that he has completely given up on the possibility of victory and is determined to fight Dao Qizhan to the death.

The entire World Cup was shrouded in darkness, and a pair of terrifying eyes in the sky were watching everything. From the endless darkness, a black power like a tsunami swept down from the sky towards Dao Qizhan on the ground. For a moment, it gave people the illusion that the sky was falling to the ground.

And the center of this fallen sky, the location where all the Li Lais gathered, was precisely where Dao Qizhan was located.

Faced with the immense demonic energy emanating from this location, Dao Qizhan simply drew the Extinction Dao Sword from his back. This sword was originally just an ordinary wooden sword, but now... its texture seemed to be something else entirely.

Facing the sky that was pressing down on him, Dao Qizhan finally swung his sword.

"Slay the heavens, annihilate the Dao!"

With a single sword strike, heaven and earth trembled, space shook, and all things bowed their heads. The immense aura of the world vanished beneath this sword, its vast power rendered utterly insignificant. A force like a tidal wave, a crushing suppression like the collapse of the sky, all crumbled like tofu before this single sword strike, utterly fragile.

With a single strike, Dao Qizhan cleaved all the power in two. The sky, which had been completely dark, was suddenly illuminated by his sword, a sliver of light appearing. The tsunami-like power was instantly annihilated. The immense force pressing down on Dao Qizhan from the sky was also split in two by this single strike. The blue sky reappeared before Dao Qizhan in that instant.

In the sky, the once boundless darkness and immense power were completely separated and gradually dissipated. At the same time, the figure of the demon fell from the sky.

They landed in front of Dao Qizhan, and their eyes met at that moment.

After a brief exchange of glances, the demon finally spoke: "A fine sword."

As those two words fell, this fearless man collapsed to the ground. His body transformed into a large amount of black mist, continuously dissipating into the air.

Dao Qizhan didn't like to joke. If he said he would win with a single sword strike, then he would win with a single strike. Even the ancient demon who lived outside the rules ultimately fell to Dao Qizhan's sword.

After sheathing his longsword behind his back, Dao Qizhan muttered to himself, "Not yet, I don't have that kind of power yet, it's far from enough."

After saying this, Dao Qizhan looked in another direction: "I'll give you a few more days to consolidate your strength. Then, it will be time for our final battle."

Forgive me for saying this, but Dao Qizhan then sat cross-legged atop the snow-capped peak before him and waited silently.

Chapter Four

Just as Dao Qizhan was fighting the demon, there was another person also looking in this direction. This person was Lin Jie. Staring at the sky suddenly turning dark and then returning to light, Lin Jie's expression couldn't help but be somewhat complicated.

"Ah! Has it finally come? According to the usual cultivation novels, shouldn't Dao Qizhan go into seclusion for several hundred years after making a breakthrough? Why did he come out of the mountain so soon!" However, Lin Jie just shook his head at this time, and immediately put the matter of Dao Qizhan out of his mind.

For Lin Jie, this might be the truly life-or-death moment, compared to the potential arrival of Dao Qi's slash. Lin Jie is actually more panicked now.

Just as Lin Jie was getting off work and returning home, a large number of girls suddenly appeared in his house.

Tian Xiaoshu, Kuror, Dongxueer, Anya, Angela, Tristy, Isabella, Isabella, Zhu Xian'er, and Gear. It was quite a sight to have ten beautiful girls sitting in the living room. But seeing this scene, Lin Jie almost broke out in a cold sweat.

Even as a hero who had saved the world, Lin Jie still trembled slightly upon seeing such a sight. Especially when Lin Jie appeared, all the girls' eyes fell on him.

"Wow, this is quite lively." Looking at the girls present, Lin Jie tried to speak calmly. His intuition, honed by years of combat, told him that the air seemed to be filled with an atmosphere of chaos and tension.

Thinking of this, Lin Jie almost burst into tears. He never imagined that after being a recluse for so long, he would one day have the opportunity to personally experience the legendary "battlefield" feeling.

"You're back, Lin Jie." Seeing Lin Jie return, Tian Xiaoshu smiled slightly at him and then went into the kitchen: "I'll go pour you a cup of tea."

"Sister Tian, ​​let me do it." Dong Xue'er stood up and said to Tian Xiaoshu.

"It's nothing, leave it to me, you two can chat." Tian Xiaoshu simply smiled and replied when she heard Dong Xue'er's words.

“Speaking of which, this place is really small.” Angela, who was sitting on the sofa watching Lin Jie, suddenly stood up, came to Lin Jie’s side, and said to him, “Actually, you can come and stay at my place! It must be very tiring to be squeezed into such a small room! Why don’t you come and stay at my place? I can help you relax.”

"Wait, no! Mr. Lin Jie can't stay at your house!!" Upon hearing Angela's words, Kuror was the first to react, and came to the side to shout at Angela.

"Ah, I just wanted to repay him, after all, Lin Jie helped me make up for it, didn't he?" Looking at Kuror, Angela deliberately puffed out her ample chest: "Besides, the conditions there are perfect for me to take a vacation and relax! It couldn't be better for Lin Jie right now, could it?"

"No!" Looking at the two full mounds in front of her, Kuror immediately grabbed them: "I can't let you use this to seduce Mr. Lin Jie. If this continues, he will turn into a beast who can't control himself."

"I think Lin Jie's beastly behavior is actually quite good! It's better than his current beastly state." Hearing Kuror's words, Angela's lips curled into a smile once again.

"No! I don't agree!!" Kuroru shook her head firmly: "Even if you want to stay, you can stay at my place!!"

"Well, whether it's 'beast' or 'worse than a beast,' neither of those seem like good words, right?" Lin Jie couldn't help but weakly say from the side after hearing Angela and Kuror's conversation.

"Hehe, actually I think if you're going to go somewhere, wouldn't it be more suitable to go to my place?" Gear suddenly spoke up at this moment: "My residence has a full set of modern resort facilities! It has simulator rooms that can simulate various landscapes from all over the world. There's also the world's most advanced game room specifically for gaming. And there are many relaxation and entertainment facilities and exclusive equipment!"

Many of these are things you'd never see anywhere else! You're welcome anytime you're willing! And you're a boy, right? Since you're a boy, you must have those needs, right? I can satisfy you! Of course, if you want a purely romantic approach, that's also possible!

"Change...change...change...pervert!!" Upon hearing Gear's words, Isabella and Chloe couldn't help but shout loudly at the same time.

"Perverted? This is actually quite common, isn't it? As a crucial part of human gene fusion and evolution, this kind of thing has never been anything to be ashamed of." He pushed up his glasses, a confident smile spreading across his face. "As a researcher, I understand the true nature of this very well!"

"What do you mean by 'essential'? You just want Mr. Lin Jie's genes, don't you? To use them for biochemical research or something!" Isabella retorted to Gear once again, "I won't let someone with impure motives like you succeed!"

"Is your motive impure? Speaking of which, why are you sisters here? Mr. Lin Jie should have just gotten off work, right? And here you are."