Li Yi did not care in the slightest about Wu Qiang's parting threats. With a swift, practiced motion, he unsheathed his sword once more and fiercely urged his intent to expand. Beneath his breath, he began to chant the cryptic incantation of his divine technique yet again.
Now, facing him, only twenty-eight cultivators remained, all belonging to the mid and high stages of the Emperor Realm. The raw combat strength of warriors at this level varied drastically, given that the realm was strictly divided into nine distinct stages: among his remaining opponents, five stood at the formidable eighth stage of the Emperor Realm, nine possessed the strength of the seventh stage, and the rest occupied the middle stages, ranging between the sixth and the fourth.
Once again, that faint, eerie whisper drifted into the ears of every cultivator present. Along with it came a suffocating sword intent that blanketed the entire sky, immediately beginning to slice through the outer layers of their flesh.
Wu Qiang's face twisted into a hideous mask of rage and desperation as a torrent of murderous intent erupted from his body.
"Everyone, attack together!" he roared. "His sword technique can only target us individually! We must disperse immediately and strike him from every conceivable angle! As long as a few of our ultimate strikes land, we can thoroughly defeat him!"
Li Yi caught his words and analyzed them instantly. He knew that if he were to hunt them down one by one, at least a handful of these seasoned Emperors would find a way to escape, and allowing such powerful enemies to slip away would only harvest much greater troubles in the future.
For a brief instant, he submerged his consciousness deep into his mind, intimately feeling his sword intent and the subtle shifts within his technique. Because he was the absolute creator of this skill and it was wholly fused with his own willpower, the technique flowed seamlessly according to his whims. In his mind's eye, his intent was like a gentle spring that rapidly swelled into a raging river; with every passing thought, this current could transform into a roaring waterfall or treacherous rapids, birthing violent whirlpools and towering waves.
In this mental landscape, he manifested a crescent-shaped wave of sword energy over the river, and along its banks, he visualized a dense cluster of massive boulders. He unleashed the attack toward them, but the crescent blade only managed to cleave a few of the rocks. He realized he needed a completely new motion for his technique—one that didn't just obliterate everything directly in front of his blade, but could seamlessly sever everything across a wide area around him.
Right at that moment, all the mission leaders moved in perfect synchronization. Utilizing their thoughts and vast mental power, they completely surrounded Li Yi's body. None of them could clearly see his face, as he was entirely enveloped by an immense shroud of dark annihilation flames. Without wasting a single breath, they unleashed their strongest, definitive techniques, determined to grant him no opportunity to react or resist.
Wu Qiang reached into his robes and pulled out a small artifact the size of a dagger, beautifully carved into the shape of a ferocious tiger. He violently injected a massive torrent of his spiritual energy to activate it.
Suddenly, Wu Qiang transformed into a blinding beam of light and shot dozens of meters higher into the sky. The light expanded exponentially, morphing into the colossal phantom of a mythical tiger. The beast unleashed a terrifying roar that caused all the surrounding mountains to disintegrate into dust, while the earth beneath them collapsed and splintered into endless fissures. The other mission leaders threw out their own specialized artifacts and high-grade talismans, which advanced alongside their personal martial skills.
These cataclysmic attacks completely blocked out the sky, and an overwhelming pressure that terrified the very souls of the onlookers spread out in every direction.
"This is the hour of your death! Consider this your divine punishment for murdering the members of the great sects of the City of a Thousand Petals!" Wu Qiang screamed, entirely consumed by killing intent as he finalized his movement.
Meanwhile, within his own consciousness, Li Yi observed those visualized boulders along the riverbanks, which had now been completely ground into fine powder. A massive, knowing smile spread across his face.
In that exact instant, his eyes snapped open in the physical world. The array of cataclysmic attacks was a mere hair's breadth away from crashing into his body.
"Sword Against Heaven and Earth!"
BOOM!
A colossal arc of sword light shot straight toward the heavens.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The combined techniques of the Emperors collided violently at a single point, utterly erasing everything trapped within the impact zone. The resulting shockwaves rippled outward across the landscape, completely flattening the terrain for miles.
"This time, he had absolutely no way to escape. Even if we failed to obtain the divine technique, at least we have successfully rid the world of this monster," one cultivator panted, leaning on his weapon.
One of the primary mission leaders, hearing those premature words, glared at him with a hideous expression. "Shut your mouth!"
Suddenly, a terrifying sword intent descended directly from the heavens, causing a violent chill to run down the spine of every survivor. Looking up, their eyes widened in absolute horror as they found Li Yi floating high above, completely unscathed. Once more, that low, rhythmic whisper invaded their ears, driving invisible needles deep into their brains.
"Dammit! How could he have possibly dodged that?!" Wu Qiang's eyes turned blood-red with pure, unadulterated rage. "Everyone, evade! Now!"
In that moment, Li Yi's voice expanded, embedding itself deeply into the consciousness of every single cultivator below.
«Thank you for helping me advance my sword intent and perfect my divine technique. As a token of my gratitude, I shall grant you all death under its second movement.»
The faces of the Emperors turned stark white. With all the strength left in their bodies, they desperately ignited their forbidden escape techniques, but it was already far too late.
Li Yi executed a single, precise thrust into the open air.
"Supreme Extermination Thrust!"
The world appeared to tilt completely upside down, and the heavens emitted agonizing, tearing sounds as the very fabric of space began to crack.
From the very tip of Li Yi's sword, countless thread-like lines of sword energy spider-webbed outward. They tore deep fissures into reality itself as they surged forward. In the sky, it looked as though an infinite network of glowing roots was being born from the point of his blade, rapidly growing to cover the entire frontal area.
Every single Emperor caught beneath the attack was instantly pierced by these threads of light. In a matter of seconds, their powerful bodies fractured into countless lines, turning entirely into dust.
Wu Qiang was paralyzed with pure terror. As he frantically attempted to activate a movement technique to flee, he was instantly enveloped and bound by the inescapable threads. Second by second, his reinforced physical body began to collapse, dissolving like sand into the wind. Tears of blood spilled freely from his eyes as he realized the futility of his existence.
"Haha... how could I have known that a simple mission would bring my path to an end here..." he muttered bitterly, his voice fading. "But what is there to regret, when heaven itself has already decided that my end has arrived."
The final remnants of his ashes scattered into the sky, leaving absolutely no trace behind. The other twenty-seven high-level cultivators met the exact same fate, their existences thoroughly erased and dispersed into the heaven and earth.
Li Yi remained suspended in mid-air, quietly observing as the massive spatial scars and fractured earth gradually stabilized into the depths below.
A slight, satisfied smile graced his lips. "I have successfully created the second movement of my technique that annihilates the world and cuts destiny. It is just as powerful as the first movement, 'Sword Against Heaven and Earth,' but it focuses its entire destructive payload into a massive frontal area-of-effect attack originating from the tip of the blade."
"Now, I am more than prepared to enter that secret realm."
At that moment, he remembered an unresolved matter and turned his gaze toward the distance, where Yan Qing's warship was still hovering.
Onboard the vessel, every single disciple was entirely frozen in terror; several had completely lost consciousness from the sheer shock of what they had witnessed. Yan Qing herself was consumed by an overwhelming dread. Although she had secretly transmitted a message requesting backup from her sect earlier, she knew deep down that they would never arrive in time. Furthermore, it was highly likely the sect would simply abandon them, as a single exploration crew was far from indispensable to their grand power. Her mind raced frantically, desperate to find any possible avenue to escape this nightmare alive.
In that tense silence, a clear, resonant voice echoed directly inside her ears:
«Approach. I have no intentions of killing you.»
Yan Qing looked up and saw Li Yi turn around, casually gesturing with his hand for their ship to draw near.
She was deeply reluctant to move, but understanding that she possessed absolutely no alternative, she tightly gritted her teeth and ordered the helmsman to guide the warship directly toward Li Yi's position. Once they were sufficiently close, the massive ship came to a halt, and Yan Qing flew out alone, slowly approaching him through the air.
"Fellow Daoist," she began, her voice trembling slightly despite her best efforts to maintain composure. "Our Misty Clouds Sect had absolutely nothing to do with the aggressive actions of those other sects, nor do we covet your divine technique. We would be profoundly grateful if you allowed us to safely retire. We swear we will never dare to approach this region ever again."
Li Yi turned a deaf ear to her desperate pleas. He knew perfectly well that these people had originally arrived with the sole purpose of plundering his divine technique. It was only now, after bearing witness to his absolute, crushing strength, that they chose to beg for their lives.
He looked at her coldly and spoke. "We truly do not have a personal conflict between us. However... I distinctly remember hearing you say earlier that your group came explicitly for the divine sword technique. Therefore, I am genuinely at a loss as to what I should do with you."
Upon hearing his words, the remaining color drained completely from Yan Qing's face. She knew in her heart that this terrifying young man would not let her or her crew leave this place so easily.