262: Chapter 262 No need for further words, let's fight if we want to.

Just moments ago, he, along with Xiao Bieli and Lin Muhuan, had been in an extremely secluded ancient Secret Realm in the Central Plains, setting up a crucial node for a plan that the Three Great Families had been plotting for a long time.

The three of them had just escaped from the Secret Realm when they simultaneously sensed the fluctuations of a Tribulation Transcendence battle coming from the direction of Huaiyang City, and one of those auras unmistakably belonged to the unique Cultivation Technique of the Fifth Elder of the Mu Clan's lineage.

Mu Tianye immediately tore through the Void Realm and rushed over at full speed.

Xiao Bieli and Lin Muhuan exchanged glances and followed without the slightest hesitation.

The Three Great Families were bound by shared fortunes and losses; if one flourished, all flourished, and if one suffered, all suffered. This was an alliance that the Three Great Families had maintained for hundreds of thousands of years, and it was also the fundamental reason why they could still stand unshaken under the suppression of the Five Great Sacred Lands.

Now that the Mu Family was in trouble, the Xiao Family and Lin Family naturally would not stand by and watch.

Mu Tianye's gaze shifted away from Elder Cangwu, sweeping over the figure in white down on the long street. His pupils constricted slightly, but his expression remained as cold and unyielding as iron.

He had long since heard of the Kunlun Elder's record of slaying the Ancestor of Liuli Sect, and he also knew that there might be a true Red Dust Immortal backing Kunlun.

But so what? The Mu Family had operated in the Central Plains for hundreds of thousands of years, and their profound foundation was far beyond comparison to a newly emerging power that had only popped up a few years ago.

Furthermore, Xiao Bieli and Lin Muhuan were standing right beside him. With the three clan heads gathered together, this lineup was enough to make even the Five Great Sacred Lands wary.

"Elder Cangwu," Mu Tianye spoke again, his voice still icy.

"How you act in the Southern Wasteland is none of this seat's concern, but this is the Central Plains. You dared to make a move against my clansmen right before my eyes—how do you propose we settle this score?"

Xiao Bieli stood by Mu Tianye's side, his right hand gently pressing against the hilt of the longsword at his waist.

He did not speak, but a hint of chilliness had already crept into his calm eyes. He had also heard what Elder Cangwu said just moments before.

Although he did not write his anger on his face like Mu Tianye did, that did not mean he didn't care. The face of the Xiao Family was likewise not to be insulted or humiliated.

Lin Muhuan unfolded his folding fan and gently waved it. The smile on his face remained gentle, but there was not a shred of warmth within that smile.

He slowly spoke, his tone carrying a somewhat unhurried admonition: "Naturally, we have all heard of Kunlun's strength."

"As for today's matter, the Mu Family was lax in supervising their subordinates first and indeed acted improperly. However, Fellow Daoist Elder Cangwu crippled Valley Master Qin Cangyan in public and publicly humiliated the Mu Family. This act is simply going too far. Since you are an Elder of Kunlun, your actions should have some sense of propriety, otherwise—"

He snapped his folding fan shut, his gaze falling upon Elder Cangwu. His smile vanished abruptly, and his voice turned several degrees colder: "What will be damaged is not only Kunlun's reputation, but also Kunlun's path of Dao. The Central Plains is not the Southern Wasteland, and the Three Great Families are not the Liuli Sect."

Afterward, Lin Muhuan's gaze shifted away from Elder Cangwu and landed on the gray-robed Elder hugging a sword.

"Fellow Daoist Elder Jianchi."

Lin Muhuan's voice remained gentle, yet it carried an unquestionable sense of oppression.

"The Heavenly Sword Sect is a Sect of the Southern Wasteland and has always had no grievances with our three families. Today's matter is a grudge between our three families and Kunlun, and has nothing to do with the Heavenly Sword Sect."

"If Fellow Daoist withdraws now, the Lin Family will by no means stop you. But if Fellow Daoist insists on sticking your neck out for Kunlun—"

He gently patted the folding fan against his palm, and the temperature in his tone plummeted. "Then that means the Heavenly Sword Sect is making an enemy of the Three Great Families. Has Fellow Daoist thought this through?"

There was not the slightest ripple in Elder Jianchi's eyes. Only when his gaze fell upon Lin Muhuan did the corners of his mouth twitch slightly, which could be considered a smile.

His voice was hoarse and flat, sounding as if he were speaking of the most ordinary and trivial matter: "Enough idle talk, fight if you want to. My Heavenly Sword Sect fears no faction."

As soon as these words were spoken, the smile on Lin Muhuan's face completely vanished.

He stared at Elder Jianchi for several breaths, then slowly nodded, his voice as cold as frost: "Very well. Since the three of you do not know what is good for you, then stay here forever."

Before his voice had even faded, Mu Tianye made the first move.

With a grip of his right hand in the Void Realm, a pitch-black battle saber flew out from his storage space and landed in his palm.

The blade was engraved with dense, dark golden runes, and a blood-colored halo faintly flowed along the edge, emitting a heart-palpitating, ferocious Evil Qi.

A Heaven Rank Magical Artifact, the Soul-Slaughtering Saber, was forged with Netherworld Dark Iron as its bone and ten-thousand-year blood jade as its edge. Countless souls had perished beneath the blade, and it was a natal lethal weapon that Mu Tianye had rarely used ever since he took charge of the Mu Family.

The moment the blade was drawn from its scabbard, a towering wave of Evil Qi swept out in all directions like a physical substance, causing even Peak of Tribulation Transcendence experts like Xiao Wanren and Lin Boyuan to unconsciously frown slightly.

Xiao Bieli's action of drawing his sword was completely soundless. When the slender longsword at his waist was drawn, there was neither sword light nor sword hum; the very moment the blade was pulled from its scabbard, the surrounding light seemed to dim by a fraction.

The entire sword was moon-white in color, with no decorative patterns on the blade, only an extremely thin blood groove extending all the way from the crossguard to the tip.

A Heaven Rank Magical Artifact, Moon Concealment, was forged from extraterrestrial meteoric iron. When the sword emerged there was no light, and when it killed there was no sound.

Xiao Bieli rarely drew his sword in front of people, but every time he drew it, it meant someone was going to die beneath his sword.

Lin Muhuan put his folding fan away into his sleeve, his hands forming an abstruse hand Seal in front of him. A cyan-gray light surged from his palms, transforming into a huge Formation Plate that hovered before him.

The Formation Plate was carved all over with ancient runes, and as it slowly rotated, it emitted a deep, heavy aura, as if it could Seal all power within itself.

A Heaven Rank Magical Artifact, the Heaven-Sealing Disk, was the supreme treasure of the Lin Family, specially used for suppression and sealing. Once locked by it, one would be like sinking deep into a mire, and the more one struggled, the harder it was to escape.

With the three clan heads striking simultaneously, together with Xiao Wanren, Lin Boyuan, Lin Qingyin, and Mu Jiu—four individuals—ten Tribulation Transcenders surrounded Elder Cangwu, Cang Song, and Elder Jianchi in the Void Realm.

Ten Tribulation Transcendence auras locked on simultaneously, and that terrifying sense of oppression completely shattered the clouds within a radius of a hundred miles. Sunlight shone straight down over the sky of Huaiyang City, yet it could not illuminate the gloom in anyone's heart.

Mu Tianye initiated the attack first, swinging the Soul-Slaughtering Saber in his hand into a pitch-black arc. Where the blade passed, space silently split open a slender fissure, carrying the force of ten thousand jun as it hacked down squarely at Elder Cangwu.

This strike had no probing whatsoever; the moment he made his move, it was with full force.

The spiritual power of the Peak of Tribulation Transcendence condensed into a layer of dark golden light and flame on the blade. Before the blade even arrived, that ferocious Evil Qi had already taken the lead in corroding the air within a hundred zhang around Elder Cangwu, making a sizzling sound.

Elder Cangwu's expression remained unchanged as he horizontally swept his right-hand sword finger before him. The pale cyan sword radiance violently collided with the dark golden blade of the Soul-Slaughtering Saber.

A deafening clang of metal exploded over the sky of Huaiyang City. This time, Elder Cangwu was not able to remain as composed as he had previously been when dealing with Mu Jiu.

Mu Tianye's saber momentum was at least thirty percent heavier than Mu Jiu's spear momentum, and the ferocious Evil Qi attached to the Soul-Slaughtering Saber invaded his Meridians along the sword radiance the moment they collided, causing the circulation of his Sword Intent to stall for a moment.