"The Infinite Soul Demon Sect has pushed us far enough. Did they truly believe Mystic Sky Sword Sect was some pliant fruit waiting to be squeezed?" Linden''s words nged through Skycrest Hall like tempered steel striking an anvil, ringing from pir to vaulted ceiling.


    "Hear my decree. From this breath onward, every cultivator of Mystic Sky Sword Sect has to prepare for battle. Summon every elite-disciple, elder, all. Leave only a crew to guard the peaks. The rest march with me to Blood-scar ins, straight to the heart of the Infinite Soul Demon Sect. Their main force has slunk out to ambush our home; we shall cleave first into theirs, cut the serpent at the belly, and grind their scheme to dust before they can even turn around."


    "Yes, sir!" the elders roared, their vow rattling roof-tiles while currents of sword aura burst upward, threatening to spear the heavens.


    A legendary de long kept in scabbard finally shed free. Mystic Sky Sword Sect, still razor-keen after its years of quiet, now pointed its edge toward the Infinite Soul Demon Sect''s ck heart.


    In that instant, the hall itself seemed to breathe-timbers groaning like war drums- as the chosen of Mystic Sky Sword Sect surged out into the pale dawn.


    Blood-scar insy under a suffocating quilt of demon mist. Rank upon rank of ck-armored soldiers stretched to the horizon, theirbined malice blotting out the sun.


    At their head stood Sheldon Soulsby, spine straight, chin lifted-ready to hurl this tidal host against the Myriad Beast Sect and scrub away past humiliations.


    Just as he raised his hand to begin the rousing speech he had rehearsed, a streak of panicked demon-light tore across the rear ranks and skidded to his feet, quivering.


    "Sir, this is bad! Master Cloudridge of Mystic Sky has led a massive sword corps onto Blood-scar ins without warning. Three outposts fell in moments. Our defenders were annihted. Their des are rushing straight for headquarters!" "What?" Sheldon''s triumph cracked, leaving only a raw, incredulous rasp.


    "Has he gone mad? How dare he assault the Infinite Soul Demon Sect first?"


    Confusion wed at him. Seconds ago, victory tasted certain; now it curdled on his tongue.


    Unbeknownst to him, Jared had nted airtight evidence pinning the nned sneak attack on Mystic Sky Sword Sect''s gate to Sheldon himself.


    Now hisir was attacked, his foundation trembling. Fury surged up his throat-hot, coppery almost spilling as blood.


    Every stratagem, every righteous wrath broke apart under that single stab in the back.


    Attack the Myriad Beast Sect now? By the time we arrive, Mystic Sky Sword Sect will have gutted our nest. The Infinite Soul Demon Sect will be a stray cur, nowhere left to stand.


    "Fall back!" he bellowed. "Now!"


    Veins bulged across his brow as he shrieked, "We crush those sword-wielding lunatics first, then grind the Myriad Beast ants beneath our boots!"


    Thus, the war machine known as the Infinite Soul Demon Sect, barely aimed toward the mountains, was forced to grind its gears, swallow its pride, and wheel around in chaotic haste.


    sthe


    The columns that had been rushing forward moments ago snapped into an about face. Swordsmen who had just been the rear guard now sprinted as point men racing toward their own fortress in a desperate bid to reinforce it.


    The billowing demonic cloud rolled across the sky like an ocean turned upside down, yet inside its swirling darkness, there was a palpable agitation-the feverish disorder of a n suddenly thrown into chaos.


    This full-scale war, ignited solely by Jared''s unseen hand, had entered a searing crescendo from the very first sh.


    On one side, surged the Mystic Sky Sword Sect-prepared, furious, their des honed to a merciless edge.


    Thousands of sword cultivators


    locked themselves into a rotating


    battle array, a colossal wheel of


    steel and light that scythed forward,


    each evolution shedding


    sword-light like a summer


    cloudburst.


    Their purely positive sword energy-sun-bright and unyielding ripped through the


    miasma of demonic qi, melting it like frost beneath noon daylight.


    Individually, the swordsmen were terrifying, but together-moving with choreographed certainty-every burst of their sword art filled the air with the shriek


    of space being cleaved.


    On the other side, the Infinite Soul Demon Sect had raced home in haste, their bellies full of spite and their sorceries twisted, venomous, and cruel.