Chapter 59: Total Annihilation (Sixth Update)

"Bing Changtian, you madman! Damn your ancestors for eighteen generations! It was you who unleashed the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation to kill us, and now that the formation destroyed Young Master Chen’s painting, you dare blame us for making you use it?"
Below, the remaining cultivators roared in unison.
No one could be more shameless than Bing Changtian!
The word "devil" was not enough to describe his depravity!
"It’s all your fault, you worthless scum!"
Bing Changtian bellowed, his face contorting so fiercely he resembled a vengeful specter. "Die! All of you, go and offer your lives for Young Master Chen’s painting!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the ancient stone swords continued their merciless descent, the overwhelming sword aura grew ever more terrifying, and the sound of cultivators’ bodies shattering became ever more frequent.
In just a moment, only Nie Long remained on the field.
The rest had all been annihilated by the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation, reduced to nothing but misted blood!
Nie Long, the master of the Thousand Dragon Sect, was undoubtedly the strongest among them.
Thus, he alone lasted to the end!
Yet now, he too was a blood-soaked figure, his body covered in countless cracks, blood spraying from every wound.
"Bing Changtian, you treacherous dog! To slaughter so many representatives of various powers—you will surely die a wretched death!"
Nie Long roared.
As the sect master, to fall victim to Bing Changtian’s trap filled him with unspeakable rage.
"Nie Long, you worthless fool! Young Master Chen’s painting is destroyed—why do you still linger here instead of joining it in death?"
Bing Changtian shouted wildly, standing atop the massive ancient stone sword as he struck down at Nie Long.
"Bing Changtian, you damned dog, you will rot in the eighteenth level of hell!"
Bang!
His body exploded suddenly, turning into a cloud of bloody mist.
The master of the Thousand Dragon Sect was utterly obliterated, body and soul!
Thus, all the representatives who had come to attend the celebration were dead, not even their bones remaining.
On the ground, only rivers of blood flowed, and the air was thick with the stench and haze of gore!
"Young Master Chen’s painting..."
Bing Changtian stood there alone, lost and desolate, mumbling to himself.
Even after killing them all, he could not restore Young Master Chen’s painting.
What a pity—a supreme artifact, powerful enough to suppress even the Demon Emperor, was gone just like that.
His heart ached!
Ached as if it would kill him!
After a long while, a servant from the City Lord’s residence approached Bing Changtian with trembling steps, face pale, speaking cautiously, "Your Highness, it’s over. They’re all dead."
"It’s over?"

Bing Changtian’s body shuddered as if waking from a trance. He glanced at the empty surroundings and nodded numbly. "Yes, it’s over. A bunch of useless wretches—all dead, not a single one left..."
"What a pity, I destroyed a supreme artifact. I am guilty!"
He pounded his chest in agony, desperate to die.
"Gulp!"
The servant swallowed nervously, then spoke again, even more carefully, "Your Highness, perhaps you needn’t be so distraught. It is truly unfortunate that Young Master Chen’s scroll was destroyed, but since he is a man fond of painting, surely that was not his only work. I believe there must be many more paintings at his residence.
If you kill Young Master Chen, all his paintings will be yours."
"You’re right!"
Bing Changtian’s once dull eyes instantly blazed with fervor, his face alight with mania.
"I will go at once to Clearwater Town, kill Young Master Chen, and seize his paintings!"
With the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation in tow, Bing Changtian shot into the sky, racing at top speed toward Clearwater Town. "Young Master Chen, I am coming for you!"
So urgent was he that in a few breaths he had vanished beyond the horizon.
...
"Damn it!"
Inside the painting, Bing Muer suddenly shouted in fury.
"Your Highness, what’s wrong?"
Elder Hua was stunned.
Mu Wanqing, Huangfu Meng, Baili Song, and Nangong Ba all looked at Bing Muer in surprise.
"That scoundrel Bing Changtian has taken the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation and gone to Clearwater Town to kill Young Master Chen."
"What?"
Everyone was thunderstruck, their bodies trembling violently.
"We must leave at once, and head for Clearwater Town."
Bing Muer urgently used her divine sense to envelop Mu Wanqing, Huangfu Meng, Baili Song, and Nangong Ba, and with a single thought—
In the blink of an eye they left the painting and appeared in the outside world.
The scroll appeared once more. Bing Muer rolled it up and carefully stowed it away.
"Ah, you... Young Master Chen’s painting—it wasn’t destroyed after all..."
The servant from the City Lord’s residence had not yet left. Seeing all six of them appear suddenly, and the painting as well, he was utterly stupefied.
"Worthless dog!"
Killing intent flared in Bing Muer’s eyes as she raised her hand.
A surge of power formed a crystalline ice palm, which enveloped the servant and seized him in its grip.
"Ah, Your Highness, spare me!"
The servant’s face turned ashen, terror-stricken.
"Be gone!"

Crack!
His body shattered, reduced to pulp.
"Let’s go, we head for Clearwater Town at once!"
Bing Muer called to the others.
...
Saint Sword Sect.
Nalan Ruoshui stormed into the main hall, her face ghastly pale.
"Elder Nalan, what has happened to make you so flustered?"
Sect Master Gongsun Changming asked in shock, "Weren’t you at the South Domain’s City Lord’s residence to visit Young Master Chen?"
Nalan Ruoshui had always exuded a serene grace. Never before had he seen her in such a state.
"Sect Master, something terrible has happened at the South Domain’s City Lord’s residence. The South Domain’s Duke is nothing short of a demon!"
"Elder Nalan, what exactly occurred? Please, explain."
Gongsun Changming was deeply alarmed. For Nalan Ruoshui to be so shaken, something truly unimaginable must have happened.
"The so-called celebration arranged by the South Domain’s Duke was in fact a slaughter. Not only was it a trap for Her Highness, but also for all the guests."
Nalan Ruoshui said, "The duke wanted to kill everyone present. Now, all who attended are dead, even Nie Long, the Thousand Dragon Sect’s master."
"What?"
Gongsun Changming’s body trembled violently, a tidal wave of shock flooding his heart.
Nalan Ruoshui continued, "It turns out the South Domain’s Duke not only tricked the Thousand Dragon Sect out of their sect’s greatest treasure, the World of Thousand Aspects, but also borrowed the nation’s sacred artifact, the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation, from the imperial court.
He first used the World of Thousand Aspects to have the remnant soul of a demon dragon sealed within it possess Her Highness, then used the pretext of purging the demon dragon’s soul to unleash the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation, killing everyone at the celebration."
"Wretched fiend! Who could have imagined the South Domain’s Duke would be so monstrous?"
Gongsun Changming sighed deeply. "But why would he be so ruthless to those attending the celebration? Has he gone utterly mad?"
"Sect Master, his intent is clear: he seeks to dominate the entire South Domain, perhaps even the whole Sacred Spring and Autumn Nation, to seize the throne of the Holy Emperor."
Nalan Ruoshui replied, "Now that he commands the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation, even the Holy Emperor may not be his match.
He has already gone to Clearwater Town to use the formation to kill Young Master Chen."
"Such a fiend is a disaster to all living beings—he must not be allowed to live!"
Gongsun Changming said, "Elder Nalan, you must go to the imperial court at once and report this to the Holy Emperor. No matter the cost, the South Domain’s Duke must be executed and the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation reclaimed."
"Sect Master, that is exactly my intention."
Nalan Ruoshui wasted no time and left the hall immediately.
"Elder Nalan, time is short—use the teleportation array directly."
Gongsun Changming called after her.
"Understood!"