260: Chapter 260 Intervening

Just at this moment, the battle below changed abruptly.

Elder Cangwu used a sword strike to force back Mu Jiu's xuanyou spear, his figure taking advantage of the momentum to sweep back three zhang, his cyan robes snapping loudly in the spiritual wind.

He did not pursue, instead hovering in the Void Realm, the pale cyan sword light on his right-hand sword finger suddenly converging, pulling back into his body entirely like a receding tide.

The aura around him became extremely restrained in that instant, as if a sharp-edged swordsman had suddenly transformed into a stubborn stone that had remained dormant for ten thousand years.

Mu Jiu stabilized his spear stance, his brows tightly knitted.

He did not understand why Elder Cangwu suddenly withdrew his hand when he held the upper hand, but his intuition told him that he must never give the opponent time to build up momentum.

He let out a furious roar, thrusting the xuanyou spear out once again. The dark golden light on the spear tip was driven to its absolute limit at this moment, causing the entire spear to tremble and hum slightly.

"Too late." Elder Cangwu spat out two words indifferently.

Before his voice faded, his right-hand sword finger pointed upward toward the sky. A streak of pale cyan Sword Intent surged into the sky from his fingertips, piercing straight into the clouds.

That Sword Intent was extremely thin at first, so thin that it was almost impossible for the naked eye to capture, but in the blink of an eye, it exploded high above in the sky, transforming into cyan sword light that filled the sky, overwhelming Mu Jiu and the other three as it shrouded downward.

Each streak of sword light was only three chi long, but their sheer quantity was densely packed like a torrential rainstorm, completely covering the space within a radius of a thousand zhang.

Mu Jiu's pupils suddenly contracted. He recognized this sword strike; it was the sword technique Elder Cangwu had used back then in the Southern Wasteland above the Zhouwu Imperial Capital when he killed multiple Elders of the Liuli Sect with a single strike—Myriad Swords Return to Origin.

Using his own Sword Intent as a guide, he moved Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to transform into ten thousand sword lights. Each streak of sword light contained a wisp of natal Sword Intent, shifting seamlessly between illusory and real, making truth and falsehood difficult to distinguish.

"Fourth Sister! Seal!" Mu Jiu shouted sternly.

Seventh Aunt Mu had already sensed something was wrong the moment Elder Cangwu withdrew his sword. Before Mu Jiu even spoke, she had already tapped her dragon-headed cane multiple times in the Void Realm, and countless purple runes gushed out from the head of the cane, layering themselves to reinforce the sealing formation diagram.

The speed at which the formation diagram rotated suddenly accelerated, and the purple light surged brightly, attempting to block all those cyan sword lights outside the formation diagram.

The thousands of cyan sword lights crashed against the purple formation diagram, producing a dense, indistinguishable series of metallic clashing sounds.

The sealing formation diagram trembled violently. Under the impact of the cyan sword light, the purple runes constantly shattered and dissipated. Seventh Aunt Mu's face turned flush red, her hands gripping the dragon-headed cane so tightly that her knuckles cracked from the exertion.

This old woman's cultivation was second only to Mu Jiu among the four Grand Elders of the Mu Family, and her sealing technique was peerless within the Mu Family. However, in front of Elder Cangwu's overwhelming sword light, her sealing formation diagram could finally no longer hold up, shattering with a loud crash after a stalemate of several breaths, transforming into countless purple spots of light that dissipated into the Void Realm.

Seventh Aunt Mu let out a muffled groan, a wisp of fresh blood spilling from the corner of her mouth as her figure staggered back a few steps. Yet, there was not the slightest trace of fear on her wrinkle-layered face; instead, a hint of ruthlessness flashed across it.

She heavily slammed the dragon-headed cane down, actually intending to burn her essential blood to rearrange the sealing formation diagram.

But Elder Cangwu did not give her this chance. The thousands of cyan sword lights did not dissipate after breaking through the sealing formation diagram; instead, as if endowed with intelligence, they split into three streams—one stream continued to suppress Mu Jiu's xuanyou spear, one swept toward Mu Zhanye, and one slashed down toward Mu Xuanji.

What alarmed Mu Jiu even more was that while controlling the ten thousand swords, Elder Cangwu's figure had already approached Seventh Aunt Mu like a ghost, his right-hand sword finger aiming straight for her throat.

If this sword strike hit home, Seventh Aunt Mu would suffer heavy injuries even if she didn't die.

Mu Jiu's eyes split wide open with fury, and his xuanyou spear thrust desperately toward Elder Cangwu's back, attempting to relieve the besieged state by attacking the base.

But Cang Song's heavy sword was already waiting on the flank. The zhenyue sword brought up a mountain-heavy sword aura, fiercely colliding with the xuanyou spear.

Mu Zhanye roared, wanting to charge over to support, but was blocked off by a sword from Cang Song. That giant axe slashed frantically, each axe strike carrying the power to split mountains and shatter rocks, yet it could never break through the blockade of Cang Song's heavy sword.

Mu Xuanji wanted to ambush Elder Cangwu with that eerie and unpredictable fast sword, but Elder Jianchi's eyes had already locked onto him tightly. Before the pitch-black longsword even came out, the Sword Intent had arrived first, forcing Mu Xuanji to retract his sword and defend himself.

All of this happened in the flash of lightning. Just as Seventh Aunt Mu was about to be injured under Elder Cangwu's sword, an aged sigh suddenly came from deep within the clouds in the due east direction.

"Enough."

A jade-boned folding fan flew out from the clouds, transforming into a soft yet resilient barrier blocking in front of Seventh Aunt Mu.

Elder Cangwu's sword finger pressed against the surface of the fan. That seemingly thin fan surface did not budge in the slightest; instead, it completely absorbed the sharpness within the Sword Intent, turning it into nothingness.

Immediately following that, a fierce broadsword sword aura slashed down from another patch of clouds, cutting between the thousands of cyan sword lights and Mu Jiu's trio, like an invisible giant hammer smashing into the center of the battlefield, forcibly separating the two sides.

The figures of Xiao Wanren and Lin Boyuan stepped out slowly from the clouds, with Lin Qingyin closely following behind.

The three of them stood in front of Mu Jiu and the other three, cutting off the pursuit route of Elder Cangwu and his companions.

Three auras at the Peak of Tribulation Transcendence were released simultaneously, standing in distant confrontation with the Sword Intent of Elder Cangwu's trio. In that instant, the previously one-sided battle in the Void Realm returned to a fragile balance.

Elder Cangwu withdrew his sword finger, and the cyan sword light filling the sky dissipated along with it, as if it had never appeared.

He stood with his hands behind his back, looking calmly at the suddenly appearing Xiao Wanren and Lin Boyuan, and then glanced at Mu Jiu and the other three behind them. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his tone carrying a bit of expected composure: "Finally willing to come out?"

Xiao Wanren's brows slightly knitted, and he did not reply. Lin Boyuan retracted the folding fan into his hand, gently waving it. On the surface, he still maintained that scholarly composure, but the solemnity in his eyes could not deceive anyone.

He slightly cupped his fists toward Elder Cangwu, his tone polite yet carrying a bit of unquestionable firmness: "Fellow Daoist Cangwu, let today's matter end here, how about that? Valley Master Qin Cangyan offended your esteemed sect's Disciple, and now his cultivation has been completely abolished, so that can be considered paying the price."

"Although Fellow Daoist Mu Jiu and the other four made a move, they did not truly harm your esteemed sect's Disciple. If we keep fighting, it will do no good for anyone."

Elder Cangwu did not reply immediately, only looking at Lin Boyuan with a half-smile. That expression seemed to say: When the four members of the Mu Family besieged the three of us from Kunlun just now, you didn't call to stop; now that the Mu Family has fallen into a disadvantageous position, you come out to call to stop. This calculation is truly shrewd.

Xiao Wanren also cupped his fists, his tone more direct than Lin Boyuan's: "Fellow Daoist Cangwu, although the Mu Family is at fault, Kunlun publicly abolished Valley Master Qin Cangyan's cultivation and publicly humiliated the Mu Family. If Fellow Daoist Mu Jiu had not made a move, the Mu Family would no longer have a foothold in Central Prefecture."

"Now both sides have suffered damages, so it is better to call it quits here. There are no deep grudges or animosity between the Three Families and Kunlun, why must we fight to the death?"

Lin Qingyin stood behind the two men with a cold expression, saying nothing, only locking a faint, illusory Divine Sense onto Elder Cangwu, ready at all times to deal with sudden situations.

Meanwhile, the four members of the Mu Family retreated behind Xiao Wanren's trio, each regulating their breathing to suppress the injuries within their bodies.

Mu Jiu was still tightly gripping the xuanyou spear, the dark golden runes on the spear body having dimmed by more than half.

Seventh Aunt Mu still had undried blood hanging from the corner of her mouth, and Mu Zhanye's tiger mouths had long since split open, with fresh blood continuously dripping down the handle of the giant axe.

Mu Xuanji seemed to have suffered the lightest injuries, but only he knew that the streak of Sword Intent Elder Jianchi had unleashed just now had left a hidden injury within his body that was extremely difficult to expel.