The purple star, the opportunity to ascend to emperorship.
The Azure Emperor had once achieved emperorship in Sword City, yet he had never told his descendants what the key to emperorship was.
And now, everyone within Sword City knew.
The awakened disciples, the city's residents.
All of them had witnessed the purple star, appearing to be in a state between reality and illusion.
Why had they come here?
Was it not for the opportunity to become an emperor?
The chance had appeared; if not now, then when.
"Kill."
A low roar echoed through heaven and earth.
Huang Qi's weapon was a verdant iron staff.
The staff pierced the heavens and earth, smashing towards Qing Yu; he intended to block the opponent.
Qing Yu, without a word, had already thrown a punch.
Fist light, iron staff.
Everything collided above Sword City, annihilating each other. Sword City trembled, and the sky continuously fractured.
Two descendants of Heavenly Emperors, engaged in a rapid exchange amidst all this.
The first blow was a mutual probe, and the result left both with a jolt in their hearts.
They felt the opponent was stronger than anticipated.
"Chih."
The two circled the purple star, exchanging blows.
With each collision, the scattered pressure from the released might made the residents of Sword City feel a divine pressure.
Too powerful.
The residents of Sword City looked up, watching the two indistinct figures vying for the chance to become emperors.
"Boom."
Suddenly...
Above the heads of the two combatants, a whip lashed down.
The long whip was like a dragon, suffused with the power of lightning.
With two sharp cracking sounds, the iron rod and the fist were shattered by the lightning whip.
"Who?"
The two young lords of the Imperial Palace, who were fighting, suddenly turned their heads.
A sea of lightning spread, and a figure emerged from within.
"Ninth Sword Cultivator, Lei."
Huang Qi directly uttered the opponent's name, his face grave. "Are you challenging the Imperial Palace?"
The newcomer's expression remained calm.
Facing Huang Qi's threat, he paid no mind and stepped forward.
"Bold."
Huang Qi roared in anger and struck out with his staff.
With a single strike, thousands of staff shadows were unleashed, engulfing the Ninth Sword Cultivator.
"Rumble."
Roars erupted incessantly, yet Huang Qi shouted, "Qing Yu, strike together."
Qing Yu did not reply, but her attack was not delayed in the slightest.
"Dong."
Though Qing Yu was a woman, her punches were peerless.
"Kill."
On her fists, a pair of gauntlets materialized.
On the gauntlets, it seemed as though phantoms of true dragons were swimming.
As she threw her punches, ten million true dragons accompanied the fist shadows, descending together to strike the Ninth Sword Cultivator.
"Rumble."
The powerful aura of destruction could no longer be suppressed.
Sword City, an ancient city.
Yet now, under the aftershocks of such a high-level battle, it was inevitably affected.
"Bang."
Ancient houses, one after another, were annihilated.
The Sword City residents in the houses, unable to escape in time, were instantly caught in the charge of these two forces, suffering heavy casualties.
"Ah..."
Piercing screams echoed above Sword City.
In the storm of destruction, the figures of Sword City residents could be seen melting away like ice and snow.
Pairs of desperate eyes gazed at the figures at the epicenter.
"Why?"
Some residents roared, "Sword City is our home. Coming to snatch the opportunity is one thing, but why must you injure and kill us?"
They were unwilling.
Sword City was no longer desolate, and many had put down roots here.
A city they had known for a hundred years had long become home.
But now, their homeland was being destroyed.
Lives were being harvested.
The opportunity to become an emperor was in Sword City; it was one thing for these people to come and seize it, but why must they also destroy houses and kill people?
"Stop."
Di Long, the second disciple of the Awakeners, landed in the air.
Behind him followed An An, Huo Xing, and two other titled Emperors of Sword City.
They wished to intervene, to save people.
"Scram."
Huang Qi swung his staff.
Huo Xing and An An immediately attacked, blocking the staff.
But the subsequent swarm of staff shadows struck both of them, spitting blood and retreating.
"Swish."
The other two titled Sovereigns quickly moved to save them.
But they did not expect...
"Boom."
A beam of light pierced through heaven and earth.
The beam, shot from outside the city, instantly pierced through the bodies of the two titled Sovereigns.
They looked down, at the large holes in their chests, their eyes filled with disbelief.
"I, I am a Titled Emperor, why..."
"Bang."
Their souls were directly torn apart by the gaze.
The bodies of the two Titled Emperors fell from the sky.
In the distance, a figure strode through the air.
His figure was slightly ethereal, yet he possessed eyes as dazzling as the sun.
"Yan Wu Shuang."
The identity of the newcomer was immediately revealed.
Yan Wu Shuang, a lone wanderer from the Central Continent, born with divine eyes, whose gaze could fell all things.
Di Long's face turned ashen.
With the City Lord and eldest senior sister absent, he had to step forward.
"Scram."
Yan Wu Shuang spoke.
His voice was cold and merciless. "Otherwise, die."
As he spoke, another beam of light shot forth.
"Clang."
An An drew her sword.
With a 'clang,' the long sword snapped, but it had managed to block the beam of light.
Huo Xing quickly intervened, covering for An An and Di Long, and they rapidly retreated.
"Everyone, retreat quickly." Huo Xing's face contorted in alarm.
Four now.
Huang Qi, Qing Yu... young lords of the Imperial Palace.
Ninth Sword Cultivator Lei, Yan Wu Shuang, top-tier lone wanderers.
If these four were to go mad in their fight, not a single person would be left alive in the entire Sword City.
These individuals, though still at the Emperor realm, their true strength had long surpassed the limits of Titled Emperors.
Ordinary Titled Emperors were no different from commoners in their eyes.
"Run, quickly." Di Long spat blood.
He had been grazed by the edge of the gaze.
He had not yet entered the Emperor realm and could only survive thanks to An An.
The surrounding people fled in a panic.
"Hahaha."
At this moment, a wild laugh rang out.
As the laughter erupted, a shuttle shot through the heavens and earth.
As it flew at high speed, someone leaped from the shuttle and descended from the sky.
In an instant, a blaze met the heavens.
"Everyone, I'm here to join the fun, hahaha." The laughter echoed.
Endless flames erupted from his body, like a rain of fire.
"Too many little bugs, I don't like them. I'll help clear them out for you." Endless divine flames descended.
Within the flames, cries of agony spread.
"Ah..."
"It's the Little Fire God, he's going to kill everyone."
"You bastard, you dare to massacre Sword City..."
"..."
Curses and fear echoed through Sword City.
"Hahaha."
The Little Fire God finally landed, directly plunging into the battlefield.
Mere little bugs, not worth his attention.
It was their good fortune to survive his attack.
At this moment, nothing was more important than that purple star.
"Chih."
Flames burned through this part of the world.
He called himself the Little Fire God, claiming to be the reincarnation of the ancient great god Zhu Rong.
He was a figure almost as renowned as the Ninth Sword Cultivator, Yan Wu Shuang, and the Angler.
The flames swept out, intending to snatch the purple star.
"Crack."
Lightning spread, arcs of electricity covering the area.
A lightning figure emerged, the Ninth Sword Cultivator, breaking through the joint blockade of Qing Yu and Huang Qi.
He threw a punch, and lightning collided with flames, exploding in the air.
"Chih."
A gaze tore through the heavens and earth.
"Boom boom."
The iron staff, the霸拳, all reappeared.