The mountains of Xiangxi were veiled in dense, perennial mist.
The ancestral grounds of the Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion (NTSP) were hidden deep within this perpetual fog. Outsiders knew only its magnificent mountain gate, but were unaware that the interior was cloaked by an ancient cloud formation. Even a Martial Grandmaster from the Capital, without guidance, would lose direction and eventually be shredded by the fierce elemental gales embedded in the terrain. This area was not only the sect's home but also the seat of millennia of accumulated prestige and taboo.
Today, this silence was shattered.
A dark figure, moving with breathtaking speed, tore through the layers of mountain mist and descended directly onto the massive stone plaza before the NTSP gate. He wore a simple cotton-linen robe, and his body showed no external signs of True Qi, yet the aura he carried—as if gazing down upon eternity from the Nine Heavens—caused the atmosphere within a hundred meters to become palpably heavy.
This was Shan Hu.
He did not pause, walking straight toward the towering mountain gate forged from ancient bronze.
"Halt! This is the sacred ground of the Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion. Who goes there? State your name immediately!"
On either side of the gate, eight NTSP disciples in black uniforms drew their longswords and swiftly formed a defensive array. Their sword Qi was fierce, but before this uninvited guest, it seemed utterly insignificant.
Shan Hu did not even spare them a glance, uttering only one word: "Vanish."
That single word, delivered with the terrifying pressure of an Immortal Emperor's divine sense, struck them like a thunderous bell, causing their blood and Qi to surge violently and their eardrums to hum. Their formation instantly disintegrated; their swords clattered from numb hands, and the disciples themselves were flung back by an invisible force, crashing onto the stone steps a hundred paces away, their internal organs rattled, unable to stand.
Behind the gate, the alarm bell rang out sharply, its piercing sound cutting through the clouds.
"What petty scoundrel dares to trespass upon the sacred grounds of my Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion!"
Accompanied by a furious roar, two elderly figures shot out from the mountain gate. They were inner-sect elders, both Martial Grandmasters, their auras a hundred times stronger than the disciples they had just seen dispatched.
The white-haired Grand Elder Li Yue's gaze was sharp as lightning. He instantly spotted Shan Hu standing before the gate. Sensing the unfathomable depth of the newcomer's power, Li Yue's inner alarm bells screamed, but the sect's dignity compelled him forward.
"Sir, your cultivation is astonishing, but our Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion has a thousand-year inheritance and profound foundations; we are not to be lightly intimidated. Please state your intentions, or we shall be forced to activate the Grand Protection Array and fight to the death!" Li Yue warned gravely, simultaneously gesturing subtly to the Second Elder behind him to immediately report to the Pavilion Master and hasten the array's activation.
Shan Hu turned, a hint of mockery in his smile: "Fight to the death? How can an ant comprehend the might of the heavens?"
He raised his hand again. This time, he made no sound, but mercilessly fired a sliver of pure spiritual energy condensed at his fingertip into the high void above.
This thread of Qi represented the full power of a peak Qi Condensation cultivator, yet under Shan Hu's precise manipulation, it bypassed all natural defenses and struck the core nexus of the NTSP's Mountain Protection Array—a node hidden in the mist where dozens of spiritual veins converged.
"Omm—Rumble!"
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a heavy, dull sound, like the implosion of the universe's core.
The ancient mist that enveloped the NTSP ancestral grounds was instantly ripped apart by an unseen hand, then visibly sucked into the stricken nexus. The next second, the nexus erupted in ten thousand bolts of lightning before utterly dissolving!
The Mountain Protection Array was shattered!
As the mist completely dispersed, the true face of the entire Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion—the ancient halls, the training fields built into the mountain, and the mottled phantom of the bronze ancient tripod on the rear peak—were left starkly exposed before Shan Hu.
Li Yue and the Second Elder shuddered violently, their faces instantly turning ghost-white. This formation, established by their founding patriarch with painstaking effort, was reputed to be "impregnable," yet it had been utterly destroyed by a single, casual attack!
"Who dares ruin the thousand-year foundation of my Sword Pavilion!"
Accompanied by a roar filled with boundless rage and supreme authority, the current Pavilion Master, Li Chongshan, holding a Dark Iron longsword, flew into the air. He was followed by dozens of core elders, all bearing looks of terror yet forced to form a battle line.
Li Chongshan stopped a hundred meters in front of Shan Hu, pointing his Dark Iron Sword at the intruder, his eyes blazing with fury: "Sir! The Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion has no past grievances or recent conflicts with you, so why this aggressive destruction of our foundation?!"
Shan Hu finally looked directly at him, his gaze cold and calm: "The Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion are merely the tripod's keepers. I have come only for the Primordial Geng Metal secured beneath the tripod, and the clues to the Deep Sea Dark Crystal contained within its inscriptions."
"Audacious!" Li Chongshan's hair stood on end. "The Primordial Geng Metal is our sect's most treasured legacy! You dare assume—"
"You do not have the right to say 'no.'"
Shan Hu cut him off, extending his right hand, fingers splayed. An overwhelming pressure, ten times stronger than before, instantly enveloped all the NTSP high-ranking members, including Li Chongshan.
This pressure was Shan Hu drawing upon his peak True Essence, guided by his Immortal Emperor Divine Sense, forming a pure "Dao Suppression."
"Clang! Clang! Snap!"
Every elder present—their treasured swords, flying daggers, and hidden weapons—including Li Chongshan's ancestral Dark Iron Sword, without exception, simultaneously emitted a mournful, high-pitched whine. The next second, unable to bear the pressure of this fundamental law, all weapons shattered into small pieces and metal dust in mid-air.
Li Chongshan was struck dumb. His Dark Iron Sword, unbreakable for a thousand years, had been crushed by an unseen, untouchable force! This was far beyond anything he understood as "martial arts."
"Immortal... you are an Immortal!" Li Chongshan's broken sword clattered to the ground. His True Qi dissipated, and he could no longer muster any thought of resistance.
Shan Hu withdrew the pressure, coldly gazing at the martial artists trembling before him in sheer terror.
"The Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion: choose to remain as tripod keepers, serving me by collecting China's spiritual materials for generations; or choose immediate annihilation and the severing of your legacy. Decide now."
Li Chongshan swallowed hard, looking at the broken swords scattered around, feeling the power that could erase them at any moment. Finally, his knees gave way, and he crashed to the ground.
"My Sword Pavilion pledges to serve the Immortal Emperor for generations, to offer all spiritual materials… we beg the Immortal Emperor to spare our inheritance!"
"Very well."
Shan Hu nodded with satisfaction and walked straight toward the bronze ancient tripod on the rear peak. Using his Immortal Emperor divine ability, he effortlessly extracted the Primordial Geng Metal, which had been suppressed by the tripod for millennia.
Next, he plunged his Divine Sense into the tripod's inner inscriptions. The markings were obscure and complex, but to the Immortal Emperor, it was like flipping through his own memories. Not only did he gain precise location clues regarding the Deep Sea Dark Crystal, but he also found an unexpected bonus: the tripod inscriptions mentioned the growth site of another Foundation Establishment ingredient—the Thousand-Year Spirit Turtle Herb, located on a hidden island deep in the South China Sea.
The harvest far exceeded his expectations.
Shan Hu turned back and delivered his final command to the kneeling Li Chongshan: "From today, the Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion is renamed the Nine Tripods Custodians. Your mission is to dedicate all efforts to collecting the spiritual materials required for my Foundation Establishment Pill. If you dare to comply outwardly but defy inwardly, this Sword Pavilion will be your example."
With that, he stepped onto the void, his figure soaring into the sky, leaving behind only the ruined mountain gate and the group of terrified, despairing Nine Tripods Custodians.
The Nine Tripods Sword Pavilion, one of the seven major ancient sects of the Chinese martial world, had completely changed hands in less than half an hour.