The sword light swept across, leaving behind afterimages where countless stars flickered, weaving together into a magnificent, dreamlike river of light.
In darkness, it would have been a peerless sight, like a galaxy turned upside down across the heavens.
But now, with the mountaintop sliced open and sunlight pouring through the exposed peak, the scene lost some of its ethereal beauty.
The effect, seen in person, was far more breathtaking than anything in a game.
Truly worthy of the title "Divine-Grade."
It was a pity he couldn't take a screenshot to save it.
Gu Fangchen clicked his tongue in amazement, eyes filled with awe. He reached out to touch one of the glittering stars.
Pain stung his fingertip. He drew his hand back, finding a thin cut already bleeding.
Gu Fangchen's heart tightened.
Just like in the game, these stars might look beautiful, but they were all made of sword intent and sword qi. Anyone below the Third Rank would be wounded by a touch, killed by a single strike.
And if one were to fight Ning Songjun on equal footing, it would mean battling while dodging hidden traps spread across the entire field.
Just thinking about it made one wince.
His uncle might be upright and straightforward, but his weapon was viciously underhanded.
A perfect complement to his personality.
Ning Songjun sheathed his sword, yet the lingering afterimages remained, trapping the five remaining sect masters where they stood, unable to move.
A closer look revealed that the stars elsewhere were sparse and scattered, drifting freely, while those around the five men were densely packed, forming a heavenly net that bound them inescapably.
Even the slightest movement risked instant death.
Ning Songjun said coldly,
"I spared your lives back then because Xue Qi begged for you with his death. He said you acted out of misplaced loyalty and sentiment, deceived by him. Out of consideration for the countless disciples under your sects who needed protection, I let you live."
That Xue Qi was the mastermind behind Sword Pavilion's internal rebellion, the former master of Greencrest Mountain and the swordsmith who forged the 'Linked Stars.'
He was also Ying Baishou's adopted son.
Back then, conflict within Sword Pavilion arose from the imbalance between its two mountains. Nearly every Pavilion Master through the generations had been a sword cultivator from Radiant Peak Mountain.
The swordsmiths of Greencrest Mountain had gradually become mere appendages to Radiant Peak Mountain. Within Sword Pavilion, a subtle culture of treating swordsmiths as servants had begun to take root.
After all, swordsmiths were craftsmen, most of their strength lay in skill, not cultivation.
Xue Qi had intended to secede from Sword Pavilion and establish his own sect.
Naturally, Sword Pavilion could not permit that. For so many years, all the resources used to forge swords had come from them. Now that Greencrest had risen to fame, it wished to go independent, how could it be so easy?
The standoff dragged on until someone exposed the truth: Xue Qi was actually the son of a high-ranking demonic cultivator.
His entire family had been slain by Ying Baishou's hand. He alone survived, adopted by the man who had killed his kin.
That revelation, of course, had been orchestrated by the Path of Righteousness behind the scenes.
Xue Qi had always suspected as much. Once confirmed, he exploded in rage.
"You killed my family, then raised me as your servant, to forge weapons for your sect?"
His mind collapsed completely.
He then leveraged the network he had built over the years, allying with what were then the Seven Sects, and launched an internal rebellion that nearly erased Sword Pavilion from existence.
Gu Fangchen ran through the story in his mind.
If Ning Songjun hadn't broken through to Second Rank and overwhelmed the opposition to become the new Sword Saint, the outcome might have been very different.
Back then, Sword Pavilion wasn't located in the center of the lake.
It had stood along the lakeshore, linked to a massive forge mountain, that mountain was Greencrest Mountain.
The current seventy-two peaks had once all belonged to Radiant Peak Mountain.
After the rebellion, Ning Songjun, in severing ties with Xue Qi and his faction, literally severed the land connecting Greencrest Mountain to the mainland.
He moved all seventy-two peaks of Sword Pavilion to the center of the lake.
To this day, the tale remained one of the most famous legends of the cultivation world.
In those days, Ning Songjun had been young and impulsive, yet his nature was not harsh.
Xue Qi, his senior, had knelt before him and pleaded, invoking the disciples of every sect to stir his compassion. Ning Songjun, moved, had stayed his hand and left survivors.
That was why Ning Wuzhen had told Gu Fangchen earlier that he was harder-hearted than his uncle.
After all, even Ning Songjun had spared Xue Qi.
While Gu Fangchen had decisively uttered the words "kill him" regarding Gu Yuye, the man who had raised him for decades.
But the Ning Songjun of today was no longer the youthful Sword Saint he had been.
Looking at the men before him, his voice was like frost.
"Back then, I let you live and allowed you to rebuild your sects in the Southwest. That was kindness enough."
"Yet you were not content. Even now, you dare set your sights on Sword Pavilion."
"Ungrateful. Incorrigible. You truly disappoint me."
The sect masters fell to their knees in terror, begging,
"We… we were deceived by the demonic path! We had no choice!"
Ning Songjun ignored them, raising his sword.
Their fear twisted to fury.
"Ning Songjun, you dare kill us?! If you destroy all Seven Sects today, aren't you afraid the world will brand you a devil?"
Ning Songjun's icy gaze did not waver in the slightest.
But Gu Fangchen suddenly raised a hand, stopping him.
Ning Songjun frowned, puzzled, turning his head.
Was this brat about to show mercy?
Gu Fangchen grinned.
"Uncle, leave them to me. Do you really think the Path of Righteousness alone could force these sect masters into such a corner?"
"I think there's more behind this."
"Seal their cultivation and let me interrogate them. Who knows, we might gain something unexpected."
Ning Songjun glanced at the group, their faces a mix of fear and defiance. Then he nodded. With a flick of his hand, several talismans inscribed with sealing sigils flew out and stuck onto their bodies.
Though a sword cultivator, Ning Songjun was also a divine-path practitioner and carried plenty of treasures.
A few of the captives had tried to escape, but against a fully powered Sword Saint, it was as futile as a fish flopping on land.
Gu Fangchen smiled pleasantly and waved his hand, storing them inside his spatial ring.
That spatial ring was a high-grade artifact gifted to him by Prajna Lianyue.
It could preserve even the rare materials required for the Demon Refinement Method, holding a few people was trivial.
Gu Fangchen then spoke solemnly,
"Uncle, come with me. The remaining formation nodes are also crucial evidence. We should destroy them all together."
Ning Songjun sensed something off in his nephew's tone but couldn't pinpoint what. He nodded anyway, grabbed Gu Fangchen, and turned into a streak of light.
Soon, the two had swept through all remaining nodes.
Gu Fangchen captured everyone from the Seven Sects he found, no matter their rank or strength, and sealed them all within his ring.
Of course, interrogation wasn't the only reason he was collecting them.
After all, his Spirit-Nurturing Bottle hadn't yet tasted its first feeding.