Ringing the Bell for a Hundred Years, I Became the Sect’s Ancestor – Chapter 119

Chapter 119: The Might of the Sword River

Night fell.

Li Qian donned the black cloak essential for nighttime travel, left Time Bell Pavilion, and swiftly flew towards the outside of Divine Sword Sect.

He traveled a full several hundred li away from Divine Sword Sect.

He had entered a vast, wild mountain forest.

This continuous expanse of forest bordered the Kunwu Plateau to the north and connected to the Tianzhi Mountain Range to the east.

Li Qian stood atop a mountain cliff.

The moon hid behind the clouds, shrouding the world in a hazy, misty twilight.

Li Qian closed his eyes, connecting with the intent of the vast sword river in his mind. With a thought, he released it.

Weng!

He felt as if the yuan qi of heaven and earth trembled in this moment.

With him at the center, within a radius of a thousand meters, the rolling yuan qi vibrated, then transformed into countless sword qi. The boundless sword qi gradually converged, swirling around Li Qian.

Finally, it coalesced into a surging river of sword qi.

It was fortunate that it was nighttime, with dim and hazy light. Otherwise, this scene would have been incredibly awe-inspiring.

Suddenly, Li Qian pointed a finger. The rolling sword river surged forward, violently crashing onto the steep cliff face opposite him.

Accompanied by rumbling and explosive sounds, a large swathe of rock shattered and collapsed. When the dust settled, a massive gap, seven to eight zhang wide and four to five zhang deep, had been carved into the steep cliff.

Witnessing such power, Li Qian was deeply shocked.

This wasn’t ordinary soil and stone, but solid rock that had endured for countless years.

His Great River Sword qi had unleashed such terrifying destructive force.

“Is this the power of the Celestial Image Level?”

Li Qian murmured to himself.

This was only with his True Image Level Sword Intent and True Elixir Realm Late Stage cultivation. What if he became a true Celestial Being and grasped true Celestial Image Level Sword Intent?

The destructive power would be unimaginable, undoubtedly reaching city-destroying levels.

He had no doubt that with a single sword strike, a powerful Martial Arts Legion would be completely annihilated.

In other words, no matter how strong a Martial Arts Legion was, it would be utterly insignificant in the face of a true Celestial Image Level Celestial Being.

No wonder the former Old Martial Emperor had suppressed Great Chang for two hundred years, with no one daring to rebel.

“However, the mental energy consumption is a bit high. I estimate I can only use it two or three times at most.”

Li Qian let out a breath.

He had only used the Great River Sword qi once, yet he felt a slight swelling between his eyebrows.

With a thought, the sound of the Time Bell echoed in his mind, dong dong dong. His mental consciousness felt as if it were bathed in the bell’s sound, and the slight swelling gradually subsided.

Within the jungle, a contingent of over ten thousand soldiers clad in dark green armor was on a forced march.

Even at night, even traversing the dense and rarely-traveled mountain forest, their marching speed was extremely fast, as if they were walking on flat ground. Every member of this contingent was at least a Ranked Martial Artist.

In addition, a group of over a thousand black-clad individuals followed at the rear of the contingent.

Boom!

Suddenly, a muffled roar came from the distance, causing the earth to tremble slightly.

“Halt.”

The Celestial Being flying at the forefront abruptly shouted.

Orders were followed without question.

The previously moving army quickly came to a stop.

Immediately, a team of scouts detached from the contingent and swiftly moved towards the direction of the explosion.

Not long after, the halted contingent bypassed the location of the commotion and continued their advance.

Half an hour later, the scout team returned.

“Reporting to Commander-in-Chief, there appears to have been a cliff collapse in the canyon ahead.”

“A cliff collapse?”

The Celestial Being in the air frowned slightly.

It wasn’t the rainy season, nor had there been an earthquake or anything of the sort. How could a cliff collapse occur?

However, he didn’t dwell on it, as he had more important matters to attend to.

On a relatively high hill, a shadow lurked, observing the commotion in the distance.

It was Li Qian.

After completing his Great River Sword qi experiment, he had intended to leave, but unexpectedly, people were approaching.

In this desolate wilderness, the sudden appearance of people piqued his curiosity.

Therefore, he secretly followed them, but to his surprise, he made an even bigger discovery – a massive contingent was swiftly moving through the dense forest.

These individuals wore armor and marched in orderly ranks. Although they hadn’t unleashed their Military Morale and Fighting Spirit, their formation inevitably led Li Qian to suspect that this was a Martial Arts Legion.

A Martial Arts Legion appearing in this desolate wilderness was rather absurd.

The figure flying in the sky was clearly a Celestial Being.

A Celestial Being, a Martial Arts Legion.

The combination of these two indicated that this contingent’s intentions were not small.

Moreover, the direction of their march seemed to be towards Divine Sword Sect.

He frowned. Could they be planning a secret attack on Divine Sword Sect?

But the problem was, the war within the Taixing Circuit had already ended. Where did this Martial Arts Legion come from?

After this sizable Martial Arts Legion passed, a large group of black-clad individuals followed.

From these black-clad individuals, he seemed to sense an aura belonging to Half-Demons.

“Eh, another Half-Demon Legion?”

Li Qian’s heart stirred, filled with astonishment.

Since the Moon Worship Cult’s Half-Demon Legion had appeared here, the Martial Arts Legion must undoubtedly be rebels. It was just unknown which feudal state’s rebels they were.

Ming Province belonged to the Linyuan Circuit, governed by Prince Chen’s Residence. Prince Chen was also a non-imperial prince but was not among the rebelling princes this time.

It was said that Prince Chen’s Residence had been cooperating with the imperial clan in suppressing Prince Ning’s rebellion.

Therefore, if Prince Ning’s rebels wanted to come here, they would first have to break through Prince Chen’s territory. Otherwise, venturing deep alone would be too risky.

Besides, Prince Ning’s rebels had crossed such a long distance just to attack Divine Sword Sect?

Wasn’t that absurd?

Unless… a thought suddenly struck him. Could it be that a major change had occurred within the Linyuan Circuit?

“Forget it, why bother racking my brains guessing? I’ll just capture that Celestial Being and ask him directly.”

Li Qian suddenly had an idea.

He had now grasped the first level of the Great River Sword qi. An ordinary Celestial Being was nothing to him.

Even a Martial Arts Legion was similarly insignificant.

◈◈◈

Celestial Being Li flew in the air, constantly maintaining a connection with the aura of the Martial Arts Legion.

In case of any sudden situation, the entire Martial Arts Legion could instantly activate their Military Morale and Fighting Spirit for defense and combat readiness.

However, he vaguely felt as if a pair of eyes were watching him from the shadows.

But his spiritual perception, aided by the Martial Arts Legion, scanned the surroundings extensively, finding no suspicious targets.

He couldn’t help but wonder if he was experiencing an illusion.

If someone was truly watching him, how could he not sense it?

Yet, the feeling of being watched persisted, lingering constantly.

So, he dispatched more scout teams to search the surroundings, but they found nothing.

Li Qian, who had been trailing them, noticed the increased frequency of the Martial Arts Legion’s scout searches and immediately knew that the Celestial Being leading the legion must have detected his observation.

However, he didn’t care.

With his strength, he didn’t need to be overly cautious.

So what if they discovered someone was secretly watching them?

Unless he revealed himself, they wouldn’t be able to find him.

He continued tracking them for another half an hour.

The Martial Arts Legion kept adjusting their marching route, but their general direction remained towards Divine Sword Sect.

Li Qian was now one hundred percent certain that this Martial Arts Legion was heading for Divine Sword Sect.

A Martial Arts Legion commanded by a Celestial Being, a Half-Demon Legion. If they launched a surprise attack on Divine Sword Sect, the outcome was self-evident – Divine Sword Sect would be destroyed.

Even in a direct assault, Divine Sword Sect would still be unable to withstand them.

Even if Celestial Being Xiao returned and everyone from the Xuan Province Branch came to their aid, it still wouldn’t change anything.

Of course, all of this was assuming he wasn’t involved.

“I can’t let them get close to Divine Sword Sect. It’s best to eliminate this Martial Arts Legion and Half-Demon Legion silently within the forest.”

Li Qian thought to himself.

“Then let’s test the destructive power of the Great River Sword qi.”

His current mental state was still good. Using the Great River Sword qi once more wouldn’t be a problem.

Previously, he had only attacked a cliff face.

This time, he would use the Martial Arts Legion and Half-Demon Legion to test its power.

With this in mind, Li Qian moved, swiftly flying out from his hiding place.

The moment he appeared, Celestial Being Li, the commander of the Martial Arts Legion, immediately sensed him.

“Prepare for battle!”

He roared.

Instantly, the Martial Arts Legion, still on the march, swiftly formed a battle formation. Rolling Military Morale and Fighting Spirit converged, transforming into a massive, intangible phantom.

And the over one thousand black-clad individuals at the rear quickly formed their own formation.

“A Celestial Being?”

Celestial Being Li frowned, looking at the approaching figure in the black cloak.

Facing his Martial Arts Legion, this person still dared to come forward?

Was it ignorance or courage?

Although his Martial Arts Legion wasn’t comparable to those renowned throughout the land, it could still crush an ordinary Celestial Being.

Unless a Top-Tier Celestial Being came, he wasn’t afraid at all.

“A black cloak?”

Among the black-clad individuals at the rear, a masked figure’s eyes flashed with suspicion.

He was the Moon Worship Cult elder in charge of commanding this Half-Demon Legion.

Three years ago, in the clues to the deceased Holy Maiden’s hidden treasure, there had been an image of a black-cloaked figure.

Although black cloaks weren’t uncommon in the Moon Worship Cult – there had even been a missing Protector who possessed a Divinely Forged cloak capable of concealing one’s presence –

the appearance of a mysterious Celestial Being wearing a black cloak here inevitably aroused his suspicion.

“Who are you?”

Celestial Being Li didn’t immediately launch an attack, but instead inquired.

“Hehe, I was just about to ask you the same. Such a powerful Martial Arts Legion, where are you headed?”

Li Qian stopped a thousand meters away from the Martial Arts Legion and said with a smile.

“We are merely passing through. There shouldn’t be any conflict with you.”

Celestial Being Li replied.

“If you’re going to attack Divine Sword Sect, then it concerns me.”

Li Qian said in a deep voice.

“Are you a Celestial Being from Divine Sword Sect? No, that’s not right. Divine Sword Sect only has one Celestial Being, Xiao Wendao. You’re clearly not from Divine Sword Sect. Why interfere?”

Celestial Being Li said in a deep voice.

But as he spoke, he suddenly made a hand gesture.

In an instant, the nearly ten thousand strong Martial Arts Legion below erupted in a deafening battle cry.

“Die!”

The condensed phantom of rolling battle intent, guided by Celestial Being Li, abruptly transformed into the shadow of a giant battle saber, fiercely slashing towards Li Qian’s location.

This kind of converged battle intent could sever souls and shatter spirits, tearing apart True Image Level Martial Intent.

“Let’s use your Martial Arts Legion to test the sharpness of my Great River Sword qi.”

Li Qian’s eyes were calm as he murmured softly.

With a thought, the surging river of sword intent in his mind emerged, revolving endlessly around him, drawing in the vast yuan qi of heaven and earth within a radius of several thousand meters.

PS: Second chapter of the day! Please vote for us!!!