The moment the bronze giant coffin fell, the entire underground palace was pierced through like paper mache. The coffin smashed through the three layers of the underground palace with the momentum of ten thousand pounds, and eventually got stuck at the dome of the fourth layer, and the shattered rocks poured down like a torrential downpour.

  “Be careful!”

  Su Yao pinched her knuckles and sacrificed the Six Harmonies Umbrella, the umbrella surface rotated to open a green colored light screen. The rubble smashed into the light screen and caused ripples, but it couldn't penetrate the slightest bit. Her afterglow caught a glimpse of Lin Yi still standing still, and she was so anxious that she bit the tip of her tongue and sprayed out a mouthful of blood, forcing the umbrella to expand its range.

  “Bang!”

  A millstone-sized green stone suddenly exploded into pieces three feet from Lin Yi's head - the Xuan Spirit Pearl automatically protected its owner, forming an invisible barrier around him. Lin Yi tilted his head back to look at the giant coffin stuck in the dome, the chaotic nebulae in his pupils slowly rotating as if he was parsing something.

  Zhao Tian's battle armor let out a sharp alarm. The mechanical eye captured that the seemingly messy patterns on the surface of the giant coffin were actually some sort of ancient prohibition that was rapidly disintegrating at the moment.

  “Warning! High-energy soul fluctuations detected! Danger level: Void Refining Stage!”

  As soon as the words fell, seventy-two rays of green light suddenly erupted from the crevices of the giant coffin. These rays of light solidified in the air and transformed into seventy-two ancient swords of different shapes, with their bodies either entwined with lightning, or gulping cold aura, and some were even as red as drenched in blood.

  “Clang--”

  The sound of swords resounded through the underground palace, and the seventy-two ancient swords formed an arcane formation on their own. When the sword blades pointed, the air was distorted.

  “It's the Northern Dipper Seven Killing Sword Formation!” Su Yao's face turned pale, and the hexagonal umbrella in her hand trembled violently, “It's at least the handiwork of a God Transformation Stage sword cultivator!”

  As if responding to her judgment, a wisp of translucent residual soul floated out from the giant coffin. It was an old man with a withered face, his white hair trailing on the ground, and green-colored flames dancing in his eye sockets. He mechanically turned his head and swept his gaze over the three of them before suddenly grinning:

  “A thousand years... Finally fresh flesh and blood...”

  The dry fingers of the remnant soul gently hooked, and the seventy-two ancient swords simultaneously reversed their direction, with the tips of the swords pointing directly at where the three people were. In an instant, the entire underground palace was illuminated by the blinding sword light as if it was daytime, and the overpowering sword qi plowed crisscrossing furrows in the ground.

  “Use the Xuan Spirit Pearl to suck in his sword intent!” Su Yao was in a hurry and threw out a palm-sized substitute puppet from her storage bag. That puppet grew when it encountered the wind, transforming into a doppelganger that was generally the same as her, and took the initiative to meet the sword formation.

  “Puh-puh-puh-”

  The doppelganger was instantly penetrated by the seven ancient swords, but it also interfered with the operation of the sword formation. Taking advantage of this gap, Su Yao tugged Lin Yi back rapidly while biting her fingers to draw three blood symbols in the void.

  “Taixu Borrowing Method, Shift Shape and Change Shadow!”

  The blood talismans burned, and the three of them blurred for an instant, appearing behind a stone pillar twenty feet away. Almost at the same moment, the spot where they originally stood was twisted into pieces by thirty-six ancient swords, and the hard obsidian ground was sliced like tofu.

  Zhao Tian's battle armor suddenly emitted an abnormal humming sound. He was shocked to find that the scattered sword energy was actually automatically absorbed by the battle armor and converged into the mechanical heart in his chest along the metal veins. The “Heart of Heavenly Worker”, which was secretly made by the Xuanji Sect, was originally a dark silver color, but at this moment, it was gradually tinted with a greenish color, and the frequency of its beats was getting faster and faster.

  “Warning! Energy overload! Core temperature exceeding critical value!”

  The mechanical voice screamed in his head, but Zhao Tian could no longer control it. His right hand lifted uncontrollably, the armor in his palm flipping open to reveal a miniature energy matrix that began to automatically condense those stray sword qi.

  Lin Yi's situation was equally bizarre. Instead of dodging in the face of the overwhelming sword qi, he took a step forward to meet the sword formation. The Xuan Lingzhu pattern spread from his chest to his right arm, condensing into a chaotic qi sword in the center of his palm.

  “Come!”

  He let out a low shout, and the Chaotic Qi Sword suddenly generated a powerful suction force. The nine ancient swords that were closest to him trembled violently, and the light of their bodies flickered, actually having a tendency to break away from the sword formation.

  For the first time, the old man with a remnant soul revealed a shocked expression, “Chaotic Sword Qi? Impossible!” His withered fingers rapidly changed sword techniques, and the remaining sixty-three ancient swords immediately formed a circular formation, surrounding Lin Yi in the center.

  The sword formation was in motion, and the ground palace was suddenly filled with wind and thunder. The sixty-three ancient swords were like living creatures, sometimes shuttling like swimming fish, sometimes pouncing like falcons, each sword pointing directly at Lin Yi's vitals. An ordinary cultivator facing this kind of attack would have been crushed to pulp long ago.

  However, Lin Yi was just walking around. Every time he swung the Chaotic Qi Sword in his hand, he was able to intercept the incoming ancient swords with precision. What was even more amazing was that after each collision, the spiritual light on the ancient sword would dim by one point, while the Chaotic Qi Sword became more and more solid.

  “He's absorbing the sword intent!” Su Yao could see the doorway and her beautiful eyes were full of color. This was the legendary “Battle to Battle”, which only cultivators who had realized the Dao of the Sword to an extremely deep level could do.

  Zhao Tian's situation was getting worse. The mechanical heart had turned a piercing green color, beating at a frequency of 300 times per minute, and his chest armor was red and deformed due to the high temperature. His vision was flooded by the constantly refreshing data stream:

  [Sword intent analysis complete...]

  [Matching technique found: Big Dipper Seven Killing Sword Technique...]

  [Automatic deduction in progress... Deduction progress 27%...]

  The old man with the remnant soul seemed to have sensed the abnormality and suddenly turned twelve ancient swords to shoot towards Zhao Tian. These ancient swords connected head to tail in the air, transforming into a sword dragon, and wherever they passed, even space showed tiny cracks.

  “Watch out!” Su Yao hurriedly offered her Yao Guang Sword to block it, but she was entangled by the other six ancient swords and couldn't get away for a while.

  In the nick of time, Zhao Tian suddenly let out an inhuman roar. His mechanical heart erupted with a blinding bright light, and his chest armor completely melted, revealing the completely cyanized core inside. The twelve ancient swords suddenly froze three feet away from him, their bodies trembling violently as if they had encountered a natural enemy.

  “Clang--”

  With a clear sword roar, the twelve ancient swords unexpectedly reversed their direction and stabbed back towards the old man with a broken soul!

  The twelve rebellious ancient swords were like a fuse, instantly disrupting the balance of the entire sword formation. The Soul Remnant Elder hastily waved his sleeve to block, but was cut through his soul body by his own sword, letting out a heart-rending wail.

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  “Ah! This seat's sword... How could...”

  Lin Yi seized the opportunity of battle, and his Chaotic Qi Sword surged three feet, slashing at the core of the sword formation. The sword seemed simple, but it was secretly in line with the Heavenly Dao, and where the sword blade passed, space rippled like water waves.

  “Boom!”

  The remaining fifty-one ancient swords simultaneously wailed, and the sword formation broke in response. The collapsed sword qi scurried around the underground palace like headless flies, cutting holes in the surrounding stone walls.

  The old man with the remnant of his soul staggered back, his soul body brightening and flickering. He stared deathly at the Chaos Qi Sword in Lin Yi's hand, his green flames pulsing violently as he suddenly fell to his knees:

  “Welcome to the rebirth of the Chaos Sword Master! My old slave has no eyes and has offended your honor...”

  This sudden transformation caused Su Yao to freeze in place. The Yaoguang Sword in her hand trembled slightly, as if it had some sort of resonance with the title “Chaos Sword Master”.

  Lin Yi was equally confused. He looked down at the air sword in his hand and realized that the nine-headed python relief at the blade had somehow transformed into a blurry humanoid figure, with twelve wings of light spreading out vaguely behind it.

  “What did you say?” Lin Yi asked with a frown.

  The old man with the remnant of his soul maintained his kneeling position, but his soul body began to flicker erratically, “Swordmaster forgive me... The old slave has been waiting for a thousand years... Finally waiting for your return...” His voice grew weaker and weaker, “In the coffin... There is what you left behind back then...”

  Before he finished speaking, the old man's soul body suddenly shattered like a bubble and dissipated into a bit of green light. The seventy-two ancient swords fell to the ground in unison, making a crisp sound, and the spiritual light on the swords was extinguished.

  The underground palace fell into an eerie silence, with only the overclocking sound of Zhao Tian's mechanical heart being particularly piercing. Half of his face had been covered with cyan circuitry patterns, his right eye was completely mechanized, and his pupil had shrunk into a scarlet point of light.

  “Warning... System overload... About to enter hibernation...” The mechanical tone grew fainter and fainter.

  Su Yao looked around vigilantly and was suddenly attracted by the murals on the walls. Those reliefs that were originally covered in dust were now clearly visible under the dim light of the Chaos Qi Sword - in the picture, a figure with twelve light wings on its back was holding a longsword, and millions of corpses were ambushed at its feet. What was most creepy was that one of the murals clearly depicted this figure wielding a sword and chopping at a woman carrying a baby!

  “Every generation of Sword Masters must behead their closest relatives...” Su Yao softly recited the inscription in the corner of the mural, an ominous premonition welling up in her heart.

  Right at this moment, a faint baby cry came from the depths of the underground palace.

  “Woohoo... Oooh wow...”

  The cry echoed in the empty underground palace, carrying an indescribably eerie sound. One must know that this was an ancient tomb buried deep underground, how could there be a live baby?

  The Chaotic Qi Sword in Lin Yi's hand suddenly automatically pointed in the direction of the source of the sound, its body trembling violently as if it was both eager and resistant. The Xuan Lingzhu pattern burned in his chest, and a certain throbbing that originated from his bloodline made him step forward involuntarily.

  “Be careful of deception.” Su Yao warned, but still followed. The Yao Guang Sword hung at her side, ready to strike at any time.

  The three of them followed the cries through a narrow tunnel to the deepest main chamber of the underground palace. The sight in front of them made even the well-informed Su Yao suck in a breath of cold air-

  A thousand year old corpse dressed in fancy clothes was sitting on a jade chair, holding a crying baby in its arms. The ancient corpse's skin was greenish gray, the surface was covered with fine scales, and the two curved horns on the top of its head had already broken one. And that baby looked less than a week old, naked, but its skin was abnormally pale, and the most appalling thing was that it actually had a double pupil!

  “The Underworld Race!” Su Yao lost her voice and exclaimed in shock, “Ancient records state that they went extinct ten thousand years ago!”

  As if responding to her shocked cry, the ancient corpse's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, revealing miserable white eyeballs without pupils. It slowly lowered its head and “looked” towards the baby in its arms, its dry and cracked lips wriggling as it let out a hoarse sound:

  “Sword Master... Returning to the throne... The Great Tribulation... Will come...”

  The baby suddenly stopped crying, its heavy pupils staring straight at Lin Yi. It stretched out its chubby little hand and scratched in the void. What was creepy was that as it moved its fingers, four big, blood-colored words, “The Great Calamity is coming,” appeared in the air!

  Zhao Tian's mechanical heart suddenly erupted with a blinding light. His right arm was completely mechanized, and a black hole opened up in his palm, a green beam shot out without warning, hitting the ancient corpse's head.

  “Bang!”

  The ancient corpse's head exploded like a watermelon, black-brown brain matter splattered all over the entire jade chair. But what was even more bizarre was that the baby was suspended in midair, unharmed!

  The moment the ancient corpse was destroyed, the entire underground palace trembled violently. The murals on the walls began to peel off, revealing the crystal clear crystal structure behind them. The floor, the dome, the pillars... All the stone surfaces were crystallizing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

  “The underground palace is mutating!” Su Yao sharply pinched her sword, and the Yao Guang Sword transformed into streams of light that hovered around the three of them, shattering the clusters of crystals that kept falling, “We must leave immediately!”

  However, it was too late. The ground in the center of the main chamber suddenly cracked open, and ghostly green mist gushed out. The gap rapidly expanded, turning into a three feet wide abyss in the blink of an eye, and below the abyss, countless pale arms could be vaguely seen waving, and mournful cries pierced straight to the soul.

  “Underworld Crack!” Su Yao's face was colorless, “This ancient tomb is actually the node between the Yin and Yang worlds!”

  The levitating baby suddenly let out a giggle, reflecting Lin Yi's figure in its heavy pupils. It opened its arms and made a gesture of wanting a hug, but its small mouth spat out a pale, hoarse voice:

  “Father... Hug...”

  Lin Yi was struck by lightning, and countless fragments of memories suddenly flashed through his mind - a blood moon in the sky, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, a crying woman shoving a baby into his arms... These images flashed by, but they gave him a splitting headache.

  The Xuan Ling Bead seemed to sense its master's crisis and suddenly flew out of Lin Yi's chest, hanging above the Underworld Rift. The river of stars within the bead rotated at an unprecedented speed, generating a powerful suction force. Those Underworld creatures that tried to climb out of the rift were yanked back hard, and the ghostly green mist was swallowed up.

  Seeing this, the infant was furious, and two streaks of blood light shot out from his heavy pupils, directly targeting the Xuan Spirit Pearl. Wherever the blood light passed, even the crystallized ground was corroded with deep grooves.

  “Don't even think about it!”

  Lin Yi instinctively swung his chaos qi sword to intercept. The sword light collided with the blood light, and the shockwave that erupted lifted the entire dome of the main chamber, revealing the layers and layers of dungeon structures above it - those structures had all been crystallized, refracting fantastic colors under the light of the Xuan Spirit Pearls.

  Seventy-two ancient swords scattered everywhere suddenly flew up automatically, rotating around the Xuan Ling Bead like a pilgrimage. One by one, the swords melted and turned into cyan liquid that was absorbed by the Xuan Spirit Bead. As more and more sword intent was swallowed, a sword-shaped pattern gradually emerged on the surface of the Xuan Ling Bead.

  The baby let out a piercing scream and its body swelled like an inflatable, turning into a three feet tall giant in the blink of an eye. Its skin cracked open, revealing the greenish-black scales underneath, and two meat tumors protruded from its forehead, with horns vaguely about to break out of its body.

  “Stop it from demonizing!” Su Yao bit her tongue and sprayed a mouthful of essence blood on the Yao Guang Sword. Although the seven star jewels on the sword body were shattered, at this moment, it lit up with blinding blood light, “Taixu Demon Execution Sword!”

  The Yao Guang Sword transformed into a blood-colored rainbow, aiming straight for the devil baby's throat. However, when the tip of the sword was still three feet away from its target, it was blocked by an invisible force field, making it difficult to advance an inch further.

  Zhao Tian suddenly moved. His mechanical heart had completely cyanized, and his chest armor disappeared, revealing the ridiculously precise mechanical structure inside. Twelve metal tentacles stretched out from his spine, and a ball of highly compressed sword energy coalesced at the end of each tentacle.

  “Target locked... Spectral race... Annihilation mode activated...”

  The mechanical tone was cold and merciless, and the twelve tentacles fired at the same time. Green light rained down, enveloping the Demon Infant. These beams of light not only contained sword qi, but also carried a certain property of decomposing matter. The scales on the Demon Infant's body surface melted away at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing the writhing flesh and blood underneath.

  “Ah!!!”

  The Demon Infant let out a miserable scream that didn't sound like a human voice as its body began to crumble. Just as it was about to completely dissipate, the dual pupils suddenly fixed on Lin Yi's face, and his lips wriggled as he spat out the last few words:

  “Remember... You personally... Kill...”

  Before the words fell, the demonic baby completely exploded and turned into a sky full of blood mist. These blood mists didn't fall to the ground, but were absorbed by the Xuan Spirit Pearl. The star river within the bead was instantly tinted with a layer of blood color, and its rotation speed increased once again.

  The Underworld rift began to contract violently, as if a pair of large invisible hands were forcibly sewing it shut. Those unwilling Underworld creatures let out a final wail, stretching out their pale arms in an attempt to grab onto something, but were ultimately dragged back into the endless darkness.

  By the time calm returned to the Earth Palace, the three of them were already exhausted. Lin Yi knelt down on one knee, and the Chaotic Qi Sword automatically retracted into his body. The Xuan Spirit Pearl slowly fell down, imprinting a small sword pattern on his brow, and then disappeared into obscurity.

  Su Yao looked at the mess all over the ground, and suddenly noticed a line of bloody characters floating on the crystallized ground:

  “Chaos appears, Sword Master emerges; the fall of the closest relative, the beginning of the Great Tribulation.”

  She was just about to say something when the entire underground palace suddenly began to collapse. The crystal structure was like dominoes, disintegrating layer by layer from the top.

  “Go!”

  The three of them couldn't think much and ran wildly towards the nearest exit. Behind them, the bronze giant coffin let out a final wail and was completely buried under thousands of crystal clusters...