Three months had passed since Lin Wudi walked out of the Black Moon Secret Realm.
In those three months, the entire Azure Province had changed beyond recognition.
The eight great sects announced their permanent dissolution on the same day. Their mountain gates, spirit veins, and treasuries were all "donated" to the newly established "Heavenly Sword Sect".
The sect only had one rule: Lin Wudi's words were heavenly law.
No one objected.
Because everyone who had objected was already dead.
Today was the final day of the three-month deadline.
At dawn, a lone figure in black appeared at the foot of the Sacred Land of Absolute Beginning.
No flying boat. No followers. Not even the two saintesses.
Lin Wudi came alone.
He carried no sword on his back; his hands were empty.
Yet the moment he appeared, the grand protective formation that had guarded the Sacred Land for a hundred thousand years began to tremble on its own.
High on the main peak, Absolute Beginning Sacred Peak.
Twelve Soul Transformation elders, three Void Refining ancestors, and the current Holy Lord — a half-step Great Emperor — stood in a row, faces grave.
Below them, a hundred thousand disciples knelt in dense rows, not daring to breathe.
They had prepared for three whole months.
They had invited three hidden ancestors who were true Great Emperors in seclusion. They had activated the Emperor-level grand formation "Absolute Beginning Star River". They had even borrowed the Sacred Land's ultimate guardian treasure — the Absolute Beginning Mirror, a genuine immortal artifact fragment.
All of this, just to kill one person.
Yet when that black-robed youth truly appeared at the mountain gate, everyone felt an inexplicable chill crawl up their spines.
Lin Wudi stopped a thousand meters from the gate.
He looked up at the twelve towering peaks and the endless palaces in the clouds, and spoke softly.
"Three months are up."
"I've come to collect my debt."
His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached every corner of the Sacred Land.
Holy Lord Absolute Beginning took a step forward. He was a middle-aged man in daoist robes, bearing dignified and majestic, half-step Great Emperor cultivation rippling around him.
"Lin Wudi, the Sacred Land admits that we were blind regarding Nangong Qing. We are willing to offer ten billion top-grade spirit stones, three immortal artifact fragments, and the position of Vice Holy Lord. Please, let bygones be bygones."
Lin Wudi smiled.
"I don't want spirit stones."
"I don't want position."
"I only want one thing."
He raised a finger and pointed at the highest throne in the Sacred Land's main hall, visible even from a thousand li away.
"That seat."
The entire Sacred Land fell dead silent.
The Holy Lord's face twisted.
"You want this Holy Lord's position? Dream on!"
Boom!
The Absolute Beginning Star River Formation activated.
Countless stars condensed in the sky, forming a silver river that poured down toward Lin Wudi.
At the same time, the three hidden Great Emperor ancestors appeared.
One held a broken immortal sword. One carried an ancient bell. One wore emperor armor made of dragon scales.
Three Great Emperors attacking together — even a true immortal would have to retreat.
Yet Lin Wudi did not move.
He only sighed softly.
"I gave you three months to prepare."
"And this is all you've got?"
He finally raised his hand.
No sword light. No divine abilities. No terrifying aura.
He simply spread his fingers.
The Swallowing Heaven Cauldron appeared above his head, now the size of a small mountain, ancient runes flowing, exuding a desolate aura that made the heavens tremble.
"Swallow."
One word.
The silver star river pouring down from the sky… was directly swallowed by the cauldron.
The three Great Emperors' emperor artifacts began to shake violently, as if they had encountered their natural enemy.
The dragon-scale emperor armor even let out a sorrowful dragon roar and tried to fly toward the cauldron on its own.
The three ancestors' faces turned deathly pale.
"This cauldron… is the legendary Swallowing Heaven Cauldron?!"
Lin Wudi did not answer.
He took one step forward.
The mountain gate's ninety-nine layers of restrictions shattered like paper.
Second step.
The twelve guardian peaks collapsed one after another.
Third step.
He arrived at the main peak's square.
The hundred thousand disciples knelt on the ground, trembling, unable to even stand.
The Holy Lord roared in fury and despair.
"Activate the Absolute Beginning Mirror!"
A bronze mirror the size of a continent appeared in the sky, radiating immortal light.
This was the Sacred Land's ultimate trump card — capable of reflecting any attack under the immortal realm!
The mirror turned.
A beam of immortal light shot toward Lin Wudi.
Lin Wudi finally drew his sword.
Still no real sword.
He used two fingers as a blade.
A three-thousand-zhang black sword qi slashed out.
The immortal light was cut in half.
The bronze mirror let out a mournful cry and cracked from the center.
One slash destroyed an immortal artifact fragment.
The entire Sacred Land was stunned.
Lin Wudi continued walking forward.
Wherever he passed, formations collapsed, palaces crumbled, spirit veins wailed.
He was like a demon god descending.
Finally, he stopped in front of the Holy Lord.
The half-step Great Emperor's dao heart had completely collapsed.
He fell to his knees with a thud.
"Senior… spare my life…"
Lin Wudi looked down at him.
"Where is Nangong Qing's master? The one who gave her the courage to break the engagement?"
An old woman in grey robes was dragged out, trembling.
She was the elder who had accepted Nangong Qing as direct disciple.
Lin Wudi's gaze fell on her.
"Three months ago, you said I wasn't worthy to carry Nangong Qing's shoes."
"Now…"
He pointed at his boots.
"Are they worthy?"
The old woman collapsed to the ground, kowtowing until her forehead bled.
"Worthy! Worthy! Senior, I was blind!"
Lin Wudi shook his head.
"Too late."
Sword light flashed.
The old woman's head rolled.
The entire Sacred Land was dead silent.
Lin Wudi turned and walked toward the highest throne.
No one dared to stop him.
He sat down.
The throne that had been passed down for a hundred thousand years now had a new owner.
At this moment, two streaks of light flew over from the horizon.
Xue Wuxia and Ji Ziyan finally arrived.
They had been in seclusion for three months and had just broken through.
Both were now half-step Great Emperors.
They landed in the square and walked straight to Lin Wudi.
Then, in front of the hundred thousand disciples, they knelt on one knee.
"Master."
The entire Sacred Land's jaws dropped.
The former saintess and the Heavenly Demon Sect saintess… were calling him master?
Lin Wudi nodded slightly.
"From today onward, the Sacred Land of Absolute Beginning is renamed Heavenly Sword Sacred Land."
"All disciples may stay or leave as they wish."
"If you stay, you must remember one thing."
He stood up, black robes fluttering, overlooking the hundred thousand kneeling disciples.
"My sword… opens the Heavenly Gate."
"No one can stand above me."
At this moment, a weak voice suddenly rang out from the back of the crowd.
"Brother Wudi… I… I was wrong…"
A woman in white staggered forward.
Her appearance was still stunningly beautiful, but her eyes were red and swollen, her aura disheveled.
The former fiancée who started all of this — Nangong Qing's cousin, who had been reborn through a forbidden technique after death.
No one knew how she had survived.
She knelt in front of Lin Wudi, tears streaming down her face.
"I know I was wrong… I shouldn't have broken the engagement… I shouldn't have humiliated you…"
"Please, give me another chance… I'm willing to be a slave, a maid, anything…"
This was the classic "regret medicine" plot that countless readers loved.
Lin Wudi looked down at her.
His expression did not change at all.
"You want to be my maid?"
The woman nodded frantically.
"Yes! I'm willing!"
Lin Wudi smiled.
It was a very cold smile.
"Then start by cleaning the blood in the square."
He pointed at the pool of blood left by the old woman.
"With your tongue."
The woman froze.
The entire square was deathly silent.
Lin Wudi continued calmly.
"After you finish licking it clean, go to the outhouse and clean the toilets for a hundred years."
"If you do well, I might let you live."
The woman's pretty face instantly turned deathly pale.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Finally, she collapsed to the ground, laughing and crying at the same time.
Lin Wudi no longer looked at her.
He turned and walked toward the back mountain.
There was a forbidden ground there.
The place where the Sacred Land kept their true foundation — an immortal vein.
He needed it to repair the Swallowing Heaven Cauldron another 5%.
Behind him, Xue Wuxia and Ji Ziyan followed silently.
The hundred thousand disciples knelt on the ground, not daring to rise for a long time.
From this day forth.
The Sacred Land of Absolute Beginning became history.
The Heavenly Sword Sacred Land rose to power.
And Lin Wudi's name truly shook the entire Cangxuan Continent.
But this was only the beginning.
Because one month later.
The passage to the upper realm — the Spiritual Realm Thirty-Three Heavens — would open.
That was the true stage.
Lin Wudi stood at the peak, looking at the sky.
The cauldron in his dantian spun slowly.
"Thirty-Three Heavens…"
He murmured.
"I'm coming."