Chapter 3541: Bringing Five Powers To Heel
Chapter 3541: Bringing Five Powers To Heel
Lin Mu flicked his wrist.
SHING SHING
Two swords burst from the Sword Cradle Divine Sheath at his back, streaking into the air like blue and yellow shooting stars.
HONG LONG
In the same instant, an overwhelming Sword Intent erupted from Lin Mu’s body.
It rolled outward like a tidal wave.
The air itself seemed to scream.
Soldiers froze mid step. Cultivators felt their hearts seize. It felt as if countless invisible blades were pressing against their throats, their eyes, their souls.
Those about to charge found their legs refusing to move. Those hovering in the air wobbled, nearly falling as cold sweat poured down their backs.
One of the sect elders staggered back, his face pale. "Sword Heart Stage..." he whispered. "Impossible."
But Lin Mu was not finished.
He lightly began to chant the Severing Heart Sutra.
The Sword Intent intensified.
WUU WUU WUU WUU
Every sword within the city began to tremble.
Steel rang out as blades quivered in their sheaths. Even the weapons of the elders responded, vibrating violently despite their owners’ attempts to suppress them.
Then the impossible happened.
With a deafening chorus of metallic cries, swords tore free from their sheaths.
From soldiers.
From guards.
From nobles.
From disciples.
Those kept in shops.
Those stored away in armories.
Even those that were still in smithies and were incomplete rushed out.
Tens of thousands of swords rose into the sky, abandoning their masters without hesitation. In mere seconds, the air above the city was filled with a sea of blades, all aligned, all pointed toward the kings, elders, and armies below.
The city fell into absolute silence.
Fear took hold at last.
Even the kings stared upward in disbelief.
The King of the Great Steppe Kingdom clenched his fists. Known for his fearlessness, he refused to retreat. With a roar, he surged forward, Qi exploding around him as he prepared to strike.
Lin Mu did not even look at him.
"Cattaleya," he said calmly.
That single word was enough.
WHOOSH
Cattaleya vanished.
Before the king could advance even a meter, a colossal fist slammed into his chest.
CRACK
BOOM
His armor shattered instantly. The force sent him flying like a cannonball, straight into the massive statue at the center of the square.
CRASH!
The statue of the Great Steppe Kingdom’s king exploded on impact, stone fragments raining down as the monarch himself was embedded deep within the rubble, blood spraying from his mouth as he lost consciousness.
The square erupted into chaos.
Shock.
Horror.
Silence once more.
The remaining two kings paled. The sect elders stiffened, their expressions finally losing their arrogance.
Lin Mu stood there beneath the storm of swords, his black robes unmoving, his presence like an unshakable mountain.
"This," he said, his voice carrying effortlessly across the square, "is restraint."
The swords in the sky gleamed ominously.
"And this is your last warning."
The square remained frozen in a stunned silence.
Dust still drifted through the air where the statue of the Great Steppe Kingdom’s king had once stood. Broken stone littered the ground, and at the center of the rubble lay the unconscious monarch himself, his armor shattered, blood staining his beard and chest. He did not stir.
Voices finally broke the silence, hushed and disbelieving.
"One move..."
"He was defeated in one move..."
"A Seventh Tribulation Immortal Realm expert..."
The whispers spread like ripples across a still lake, growing louder with every breath.
"That punch..." one noble muttered, eyes locked onto Cattaleya. "That was not a technique. That was raw power."
Another cultivator swallowed hard. "She’s at the Seventh Tribulation too... right?"
"No," a sect elder murmured, his voice trembling. "Look again."
All eyes turned toward Cattaleya.
She stood casually beside Lin Mu, rolling her shoulders as if she had merely swatted an insect. Her towering physique radiated crushing pressure, dense and overwhelming. It was not sharp like sword intent, nor refined like elemental Qi. It was primal, brutal, and terrifyingly honest.
"No..." the elder whispered again. "She’s far stronger. And she’s a body cultivator to top..."
Just her presence alone pressed down on the crowd like an invisible mountain. Even those at the Immortal Realm felt their breathing grow labored.
Before anyone could react further, movement flickered near the sect elders.
SHUA.
A shadow stepped out from nothingness itself.
Cold claws rested lightly against the throats of the two highest elders of the Golden Urn Sect and the Boundless River Sect.
Elyon had appeared.
His movements had been so silent and so fast that not even the elders had sensed him until it was too late. Dark Qi curled around his claw weapons, sharp and restrained, yet filled with lethal intent.
Neither elder dared to move.
They could tell instantly that Elyon’s cultivation was lower than theirs. Fifth Tribulation at most.
But speed, stealth, and killing intent were things that transcended cultivation alone.
If they moved even an inch, their heads would roll.
At the same time, two flashes of cold blue and vibrant yellow appeared.
SHING.
SHING.
Afternoon Pine and Ocean Raker hovered in the air, their blades resting gently at the throats of the remaining two kings.
The King of the Olive Canopy Kingdom froze, feeling the razor sharp edge against his skin. The King of the Alabaster Plains Kingdom broke into a cold sweat, his hands raised instinctively.
In less than five minutes, five great powers had been brought to a complete standstill.
Two kings held at swordpoint.
Two sect high elders held hostage by a beast kin assassin.
One king unconscious and defeated.
And above them all, tens of thousands of swords still hovered in the sky, trembling with suppressed killing intent.
Yet even now, distant rumbling could be felt.
From beyond the city walls.
The armies.
The vast forces stationed outside the city were still mobilizing. Commands echoed faintly through the distance. War banners fluttered as formations began to activate.
Lin Mu sensed it all.
He slowly raised his hand.
"Rise," he said calmly.
The word echoed, carrying vast Qi within it.