Chapter 63: Nascent Soul Sword Intent Slaughters the Multitude of Enemies

Inside and outside the mountain gates of the Universal Gate, three to four hundred people stood in strict formation, armed with weapons. Among them were over thirty late-stage Qi Refinement realm cultivators, possessing formidable strength.

Hearing Qin Anyu’s arrogant words, they burned with rage, yet no one retorted; they could only glare with furious eyes.

Seeing this, Qin Anyu drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed directly at one of the late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators.

Another late-stage cultivator roared, "Kill!"

Everyone brandished their weapons and charged forward in a sprint.

Qin Anyu instantly shifted his target and released the string.

The cultivator who had issued the battle cry saw the arrow aimed straight at him and immediately raised his vigilance to the absolute maximum.

Regrettably, they were not on the same plane; he had no inkling of his opponent's true terror. Raising his vigilance twentyfold was utterly useless.

The iron arrow pierced through his neck, continued through the chest of a mid-stage cultivator behind him, and finally embedded itself deep into the abdomen of a third practitioner before coming to a halt.

Even so, not a single one of the others stopped; they continued charging toward them.

Witnessing this spectacle, Qin Anyu’s gaze turned icy as he switched to the crude sword.

It was impossible to manage without unleashing a major technique.

He gripped the crude sword tightly with both hands, channeling his soul power into it, and a strand of sword intent was awakened.

As the sword intent activated, a wave of intense pain immediately struck him.

A minute fraction of the awakened sword intent infiltrated his body, ravaging his physical frame.

The gap between their realms was simply too vast. Since he had not yet cultivated his own sword intent, wielding someone else's was a matter of mutual destruction.

However, he had no alternative. They possessed no martial honor; rather than coming at them one by one, they swarmed him collectively, and he could not withstand their numbers.

Mutual destruction it was, then. A thousand enemies slain at the cost of however many self-inflicted wounds it took.

Enduring the agonizing pain, he let out a furious roar, "All of you, go to hell..."

With a single horizontal sweep of his sword, a blinding white radiance instantly materialized and vanished as abruptly as it appeared.

The world grew utterly silent.

The mountain gate of the Universal Gate presented a scene of utmost desolation.

The gate tower had collapsed, and shattered rocks and broken timber blocked the main road. The grand trees within a radius of thirty zhang on both sides of the gate and the path were snapped clean in half.

The three to four hundred charging figures felt as though heaven and earth had frozen solid. They could not move their bodies, their consciousness was paralyzed, and no sound could escape their throats. Despair instantly filled their hearts.

In the depths of their minds, only a single thought echoed: "What kind of opponent is this?"

As the radiance faded, the mountain gate was transformed into a veritable Shambles. Severed heads, broken limbs, and shattered corpses littered the roadway.

The dead could make no sound, and the living had forgotten how to scream.

The scene was terrifying beyond measure.

A single strike. Merely one sword stroke.

The elite of the sect were destroyed in an instant, yet they had not even been able to perceive how the attack was launched.

Qin Wushuang and his two companions were similarly stunned. They had initially contemplated relying on the Three Talents Formation to dispatch the enemy, but before they could act, an immense pressure descended upon them, freezing them in place.

They had merely watched Qin Anyu swing his sword, and this multitude of adversaries was reduced to nothingness.

By this time, Qin Anyu felt utterly exhausted. His mind was dizzy, his limbs felt like jelly, his whole body ached intensely, and blood was seeping through his pores. He had to steady himself by thrusting his sword into the ground.

Without putting up a false front, he simply sat down, pulled out a mortal-grade red ginseng to chew on, grabbed five primordial stones in his hand, and hurriedly circulated the *Heaven-Opening Primordial Art*.

"In the Immortal Realm, an Nascent Soul cultivator's sword strike is worth nothing, but I didn't expect it to possess such terrifying might here in the lower realm. If not for my formidable soul power, I truly wouldn't have been able to unleash such power. Even so, it drained sixty percent of my soul power and ninety percent of my true qi."

A few seconds later, the surviving wounded began to emit heaven-shaking, miserable wails. Stimulated by the excruciating pain, all of them finally snapped back to reality.

Their agonizing cries jolted Qin Wushuang and the other two back to their senses, and they immediately charged into the fray.

Having uprooted four Universal Gate outposts along their journey, they had already accumulated considerable experience in delivering the finishing blows.

This time, however, they did not immediately execute those who wailed in agony, but instead interrogated them regarding the whereabouts of Qin Tuo and his wife.

Having absorbed the first five primordial stones, Qin Anyu produced another five and continued to draw upon their energy.

Upon absorbing the third batch, he discovered signs that three more meridians and eighteen acupoints were on the verge of being activated. He felt a surge of excitement: "So, cultivating the Crude Body is just like the body-refinement arts of our ancestors—it requires self-torment."

On that sheer cliff at the border of the Song and Dali Kingdoms, he had used wild chicken vine and abundant minerals to temper his physique, opening two meridians and stimulating various others, bringing the number of meridians showing signs of activation to thirty-one and acupoints to ninety-six. Yet, considering the vast remaining number of dormant meridians and acupoints, his excitement quickly subsided: "There is still a long and arduous path ahead."

After discarding the dust of the thirty-fifth to fortieth primordial stones, he stood up, grabbed another five stones in his hand, and slowly walked toward the bloody battlefield.

The interrogation by Qin Wushuang and the others was far too slow, resulting in several cultivators with severed limbs dying before they could speak. Even though his soul power had not fully recovered, he could no longer afford to wait.

Spotting a mortally wounded late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator among the corpses, he decided to attempt soul-searching.

A moment later, disappointment washed over him; soul-searching remained unfeasible. However, an unusual sensation rippled through him—his true qi and soul power were rapidly recovering.

He instantly understood that this was the result of him continuously cycling his cultivation technique.

The *Heaven-Opening Primordial Art* was reputed to be capable of absorbing everything in the world for one's own use, including soul power.

"Although the family strictly forbids this practice, circumstances are exceptional now. Let's consider this a special case."

After offering this brief self-justification, he did not halt the circulation of his technique and proceeded with the "soul-searching" process.

He continued the interrogations mostly out of a desire for reassurance and to gather additional details for verification, though essential information had already been acquired.

Indeed, the current situation was highly unusual. A fresh influx of people had appeared within the Universal Gate; although mid- and late-stage Qi Refinement experts were few, they did exist. Behind them, more onlookers kept arriving—likely merely to watch the spectacle, but precautions could not be neglected.

Having finished "searching" the souls of two late-stage and three mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators consecutively, Qin Anyu walked up to the shattered mountain gate and called out to those inside, "You may leave. From this day forth, the Lingqiao Realm shall no longer have a Universal Gate."

He had already learned that on the very day they entered the Dali Kingdom, Qin Tuo and his wife had been transferred to the Chenqiao Realm, escorted there by Zhou Wuqi and his cohorts. Thus, keeping these people alive served no purpose; it was better to let them depart.

Not only had Zhou Wuqi and his party escorted Qin Tuo and his wife away, but they had also plundered vast quantities of medicinal herbs and minerals.

The branch of the Universal Gate in the Chenqiao Realm placed little value on the Lingqiao Realm itself, caring only for its herbs, minerals, and the occasional rare cultivation genius.

The faces of those inside the mountain gate were pale, drained of color by pure terror.

With the gatehouse destroyed and so many Qi Refinement experts slain, the foundation of their sect's faith had collapsed.

Hearing his command, they scrambled frantically toward the exit.

As they reached the boundary of the mountain gate, Qin Anyu called out once more, "You may leave with your lives, but everything belonging to the Universal Gate must stay."

Qin Wushuang and the other two had already finished clearing the battlefield. Hearing this, they rushed forward in unison, shouting, "Leave your storage rings! Leave everything belonging to the Universal Gate behind!"

Some raised bundles and protested, "I only took a few clothes, I didn't even take my bedding!"

Others untied their packs, emptied certain items onto the road, and then fled.

One late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, unwilling to surrender his storage ring, attempted to break through from the side and roared, "I am an elder of the sect! This storage ring was purchased with my own resources, why should I leave it to you?"

Qin Wushuang snapped angrily, "Everything in the Universal Gate belongs to us. We are merely sparing your life!"

Qin Youqin moved with blistering speed, blocking the elder's escape route. Joined by Qin Lingxue and Qin Wushuang who closed in from the flanks, they deployed the Three Talents Formation. A single blow knocked him back, a second severely injured him, and a third ended his life.

With such a precedent set, any remaining malcontents instantly became docile, unceremoniously handing over everything they should not have kept.

Executing an elder over a mere disagreement struck terror into the hearts of the onlookers, thoroughly cowing their combat strength. No one dared to approach stealthily anymore, and any thoughts of capitalizing on the chaos vanished like smoke.