Volcanic Age

Zhou Xuchuan moved quickly, his hair and sleeves fluttering in the wind. Every time he touched the ground, the scenery around him would peel away rapidly.

"Ugh…" Someone's groaning echoed from the northeast.

Is this it?

Despite moving at full speed, he could change directions freely thanks to the Hundred Divine Transformations. There was no sign of him losing his balance. After running for about half a li, he saw a middle-aged man leaning against an old tree.

The old man was busy bandaging his wounds, and four corpses that seemed to be members of the expedition party were ahead of him.

"Are you okay?"

"You…!" The middle-aged man recognized Zhou Xuchuan's face and was surprised. "Sword God!"

"Are you okay, Bear Fist Hero?"

While Zhou Xuchuan didn't know every one of the members' faces, he still memorized the faces of the leaders of the expedition through their portraits.

"What happened?" asked Zhou Xuchuan.

"That's…" Li Chu trailed off, looking troubled.

"We don't have much time, so please keep it short."

"Understood."

There were twenty warriors from the Martial Alliance, including Li Chu, and ten disciples from the Qingcheng Sect, including Duan Lihua. Although their numbers were lowered to just thirty, there was nothing to fear, as they were all powerful martial artists.

However, a nightmare began as soon as they followed Li Chu into the darkness.

"Those spiritual beasts, no, those demonic beasts are terrifying. They're as smart as humans, and they not only have great strength, but they have those sticky spider webs as well. They came in rushing as if they could see through the darkness. It truly was like they had come out of a nightmare."

Li Chu shivered as if he was terrified.

"We struggled to survive, but we were helpless. We lost our subordinates. And…"

"And?" Zhou Xuchuan urged Li Chu to continue.

"You may find it hard to believe, but Wave Sword Phoenix attacked our troops as if she had gone mad from the spider's venom."

"…"

Zhou Xuchuan's face hardened.

"I shouted at her, 'what are you doing?' However, she didn't answer. She swung her sword without saying a word. Everyone was thrown into disarray and scattered, which is why we're in this situation now."

Li Chu, who had finished wrapping his bandages, stood up. His eyes were filled with guilt as he looked at his subordinates.

"Hmm…"

"At worst, she may have gone mad from the spider's venom, or…"

"She may have betrayed us."

"Yes."

Li Chu's face darkened.

"Understood. Let's find her first. Do you know where she was headed?"

"Yes. She went over that way."

"She's traveling in the opposite direction from the group."

This was bad. They were getting farther and farther away.

However, it didn't mean that he could just sit back and watch her leave.

"Can you move?"

"I'm the Bear Fist Hero. I don't have your level of fame, Sword God, but I'm still an expert of the Alliance." Li Chu flexed his arm, showing off his bulging upper arm muscles to show that he was fine.

"That's a relief. Then let's go."

Thud!

Zhou Xuchuan flew toward the direction Li Chu had pointed out. He slowed down enough for the Bear Fist Hero not to fall behind.

Wave Sword Phoenix, Duan Lihua.

She was a genius who reached the Harmony Realm at the age of twenty-nine. As they entered the Era of War and Chaos, Zhou Xuchuan naturally thought of Duan Lihua.

She had been active as one of the heroes of his previous lifetime, and she perished in a battle with the Dark Heavens Association when she was fifty. She wasn't as influential as the Posthumous Genius or had achieved achievements as great as what the Merchant King had achieved, but she was still a famed master.

"Sword God!" Li Chu's warning voice broke his thoughts.

Looking ahead, he saw large spiders preparing to attack them from the branches of the old trees up ahead. There were seven of them in total.

"Just keep running."

Zhou Xuchuan didn't even blink an eye.

"B-but…"

"It's okay. Trust me."

Zhou Xuchuan didn't reduce the qi circulating through his legs but rather increased it. His speed increased in an instant, and he became even faster than before.

Flicking Sword Tune.

He bent his middle finger, imbued it with strength, and flicked his sword's blade.

Ring!

He flicked his finger and released the qi, and his sword's blade rippled back and forth, looking like waves.

Screech!

Woosh!

The sound waves emitted from the sword swept across the forest, and the group of spiders that had been hiding trembled in pain.

Found them. Zhou Xuchuan's eyes moved in all directions. With just four waves of his Flicking Sword Tune, he saw where all seven spiders were located.

"One."

He swung his sword as if he was gliding past them. He swung it lightly without stopping his lightness technique, making it look like he was dancing.

Swish.

He drew a line of blood across the spider's body.

Squelch!

Although it looked as though he was swinging his sword playfully, the sword's power was no joke. The spider's massive body was neatly cut in two.

"Two, three, four."

Bang! Bang, bang!

Instead of swinging his sword with his right hand, he flicked his left middle finger three times.

It wasn't the Flicking Sword Tune this time, but the Violet Haze finger.

The purple rays that shot out from his fingertips blasted forward like arrows, piercing the head of the spider that was trying to keep its balance.

"In front of us…!"

Li Chu felt dizzy staring at Zhou Xuchuan's movements, but he continued to warn the swordsman of impending danger. There was an obstacle ahead of them; it was on top of a giant tree that had to be hundreds of years old.

"Five, six, seven."

Schwing!

Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword from top to bottom with all his might. He carved a huge arc as a purple aura wrapped around his sword.

Schwing!

"...!"

Li Chu couldn't continue talking. He knew that the Empyrean Overlords were monstrous beings beyond human limits, but he had no idea that Zhou Xuchuan was actually this strong.

Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword before he ran into the giant tree. He was a little far from it, so he was worried whether his attack could reach it. However, it was a needless worry.

The pressure from his sword attack cut the air and split the giant tree as if it were mere firewood.

Screeeeeeech!

The screech hadn't come from a spider. The giant tree that had been living for hundreds of years screeched as its body was split into two.

BOOM!

Chirp, chirp, chirp!

As the two parts of the giant tree fell to the side, the birds living nearby were startled, and they frantically took to the skies. The insects and small animals living where the giant tree's two parts landed were crushed to death, including the spiders.

H-how?! Li Chu went agape at the sight, and he was so shocked that he couldn't even consider closing it. Thunder rumbled in his head. When he had first met Zhou Xuchuan, he wondered if such a young man could truly be the Sword God of the Seven Empyrean Overlords.

However, it had been a foolish thought.

Only an Empyrean Overlord could do such a thing without breaking a sweat.

"Let's speed up."

Zhou Xuchuan grabbed Li Chu by the nape.

"Yes? Yes? Argh!"

A foul wind slapped at his cheeks.

I haven't seen any corpses just yet. Zhou Xuchuan seemed to be running blindly with his lightness technique cast to the extreme, but it definitely wasn't the case.

He was running while checking his surroundings.

Clang! Clang, clang!

Half an hour later, he heard the sound of metal clashing in front of him.

There seemed to be people fighting each other up ahead.

After pushing through the dense forest reminiscent of the Southern Jungles, he came across a pitch-black cave reminiscent of a boundless abyss.

"Found you," muttered Zhou Xuchuan while staring at the cave. He dropped Li Chu, whom he had been holding by the nape.

"Wave Sword Phoenix!" Li Chu shouted fiercely.

Duan Lihua was standing alone at the end of his gaze, and she was surrounded by spiders.

"…"

Duan Lihua turned her head upon hearing Li Chu's voice. She said nothing and simply glared at him fiercely.

Her uniform was torn here and there, and blood dripped from her exposed skin. Clearly, she had been through a lot. Meanwhile, a cool aura was quietly rippling from the sword in her hand.

They're over there.

Zhou Xuchuan focused on the cave behind Duan Lihua's back.

He could see people hanging from the ceiling, wrapped in spider webs. When he counted them, he became sure of it—they were the members of the expedition party.

"Have you gone crazy, Duan Lihua?!" Li Chu shouted with clenched fists. "What on earth were you thinking when you attacked your comrades?"

"…"

Duan Lihua didn't say anything in response. Instead, she glanced alternatingly between Zhou Xuchuan and Li Chu.

"Why aren't you saying anything?! Could it be that you betrayed the Righteous Faction like Tang Mingren, Wave Sword Phoenix?!" Li Chu's voice was full of anger, and he looked like he would charge at Duan Lihua had it not been for the spiders.

Scritch, scritch.

"We've been surrounded," Zhou Xuchuan said nonchalantly despite the unfavorable situation. With his sharpened senses, he could sense any movement nearby, and he sensed dozens of spiders around them.

"Of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes—both the First Phoenix and the First Dragon have betrayed us…" Li Chu lamented the betrayal of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes. "Her silence is affirmation. She must be punished as a traitor of the Righteous Faction."

Li Chu stepped forward as if he was about to charge at Duan Lihua.

"Listen here, Wave Sword—"

"Enough," Zhou Xuchuan interrupted.

Li Chu turned around and looked at Zhou Xuchuan with a puzzled look. He looked like he was asking what was going on.

"Bear Fist Hero. Stop acting."

"Pardon…?"

"This forest is full of monsters, just like you said. It's not a place where the predators will injure their prey and then leave them be."

He had studied the regional characteristics of the spiritual beasts and animals that inhabited this area in order to hunt the Human-faced Spider better once it was concluded that they would come to this forest.

Thanks to the information provided by the Poison King and Tang Hui's explanation, he obtained a complete understanding of the region.

"I think you're misunderstanding something here, Sword God—"

"You followed me too well, considering you were supposed to be injured. If you had actually fought fiercely before we met, you wouldn't have had enough qi to keep up with me."

While the Bear Fist Hero was an expert, he wasn't from a great sect and hadn't received much support to his qi reserves through elixirs. Moreover, he had never lucked upon one, either.

Thus, the amount of qi he had was average at best. Lightness techniques were known for consuming a ton of qi, so one usually wouldn't be able to use lightness techniques after a fierce battle.

"That's…"

Zhou Xuchuan ignored Li Chu and turned to Duan Lihua, asking, "Lady Wave Sword Phoenix, did you get hit by an acupoint technique?"

Duan Lihua looked surprised at Zhou Xuchuan's question. Then, she smiled faintly and shook her head up and down in agreement. Someone had pressed her acupoints, and she couldn't speak.

"It would have been different if you had gotten angry when we saw your captured comrades as soon as we arrived here, but you went too crazy trying to frame her as a traitor."

Zhou Xuchuan snickered and glared at Li Chu.

"Argh!" Li Chu no longer had any intention of hiding, so his face twisted into a grimace, and he moved away from Zhou Xuchuan.

"And…"

Sigh. Zhou Xuchuan let out his qi.

"U-ugh!"

Li Chu was about to unleash his hostility, but he was overwhelmed by the qi flowing out of Zhou Xuchuan. His breathing was suppressed, and his hair stood on end. He couldn't move at all, as if he had been afflicted by a paralyzing poison.

The sweat that had formed on his forehead soon soaked his entire body.

Screech, screech, screech!

The spiders nearby were scared as well. Since ancient times, animals had always been more sensitive than humans. When Zhou Xuchuan released his qi, they felt a primal distaste toward it.

The spiders that had been crawling closer little by little retreated wary as if they were facing a predator.

"Don't hide in the shadows and wait for an opportunity. Just come out, Dark Heavens Association."

"Oho."

Thump, thump, thump.

Footsteps were heard from inside the cave. The footsteps were just the beginning, as the surroundings began shifting as well.

The Seven Stars Division soldiers, who had been hiding and holding their breath to slow down their pulses, were finally revealed. Even at a rough count, there were over fifty of them.

"I can't believe you figured it out this quickly."

The voice was fierce and majestic.

"Because it's the work of Blessed Existence," Zhou Xuchuan answered as if it were obvious. "Considering its Blessed Existence, he must have prepared something."

Even if the identity of Avaricious Wolf had already been revealed, it wouldn't mean that the Avaricious Wolf Star would disappear. Their identities hadn't been revealed just yet, after all.

The Martial Alliance had changed their codes and had been moving in secret, but it was inevitable for information to leak out somewhere.

The recruitment of the expedition team had only been a secret in name. They had no intention of hiding it. After all, they assumed that someone from Avaricious Wolf Star would discover the truth anyway.

They were in the habitat of the Human-faced Spider; they were inside an inaccessible Nature Formation within the Central Plains. There was no better place for them to ambush the Martial Alliance.

"As I always say…" Zhou Xuchuan's sword emitted a purple haze.

"If there is the Dark Heavens Association behind the murim." Zhou Xuchuan sneered. "Behind the Dark Heavens Association is me, Zhou Xuchuan."