Chapter 320: The Great Dark King

Chapter 320 The Great Dark King

After Divine Anomaly City emerged, brilliant golden light flooded the gloomy sky and earth. Li Ya stood dumbfounded in the glow.

He could feel the city’s power—it was far stronger than when he used it himself. In fact, it wasn’t even comparable.

Which meant... that voice earlier had spoken the truth!

Now that he thought about it, he’d never truly controlled Divine Anomaly City’s power—it had always been the Divine Anomaly Spirit acting on his orders.

High above in the clouds, the Lord of Divine Anomalies watched the growing Divine Anomaly City with flickering eyes, clearly deep in thought.

Zhang Bukui, however, was delighted. If the Sword Sovereign of the Righteous Path had truly arrived, then Li Ya might just be saved.

In his heart, the Sword Sovereign was an invincible being—just like everyone else from Taicang Continent believed.

A figure condensed beside Li Ya.

Li Ya glanced over—and his pupils shrank.

It was that familiar demonic shadow!

The dark purple demonic energy didn’t look evil in his eyes—instead, it felt comforting. Almost intimate.

Gu An turned his head slightly and glanced at Li Ya.

Li Ya quickly raised his hand in salute. “Ancestor…”

Thousands of words caught in his throat. He couldn’t say a single one.

Boom—

Thunderclouds surged in to blanket the blood-colored sky. Countless bolts of lightning twisted like serpentine dragons—spectacular and overwhelming—plunging the earth into oppressive silence.

The cloud sea condensed into a massive face that occupied most of the sky, making all things below feel tiny and insignificant.

Zhang Bukui looked up and gawked. A terrifying pressure bore down on him like nothing he had ever felt.

Even the Lord of Divine Anomalies looked grim.

Though powerful, the Lord of Divine Anomalies was only on par with a Free Soaring Immortal, and not nearly as unrestrained.

This face in the sky? It belonged to a real Mystic Celestial Immortal—a being above the Free Soaring level!

The Lord of Divine Anomalies couldn’t help glancing toward Gu An inside Divine Anomaly City, silently thinking: Sword Sovereign of the Righteous Path… how will you respond?

Even during the campaign against the Grand Cold Demon Sect, no one had ever displayed such overwhelming might!

A hoarse old voice rang out once more, stern and accusatory.

“Sword Sovereign of the Righteous Path, why have you not accepted the Holy Court’s recognition?”

Gu An looked up slightly, his voice booming across the heavens.

“Why must I accept it? What, does refusing the Holy Court make me a demon?”

If the Holy Court truly thought that way, then Gu An had every reason to be wary of its Fate-Binding Titles.

What were Fate-Binding Titles if not a form of shackles?

“Not so,” the old voice thundered again, echoing like rolling thunder. “But refusing the Holy Court surely means you have something to hide. Sword Sovereign of the Righteous Path, why won’t you show your face to the world? What are you afraid of?”

By now, Gu An had lost all interest in continuing this pointless exchange.

“You have three breaths. Leave now, or don’t blame me for disrespecting the Holy Court.”

His voice turned cold—killing intent spread through the air.

The massive face in the sky showed signs of change. It didn’t reply.

Those three breaths felt like an eternity.

Zhang Bukui and Li Ya didn’t even dare to breathe. The Lord of Divine Anomalies waited too, anxious to see how this mysterious powerhouse would react.

Anyone that even the Sword Sovereign could scorn must be terrifying indeed. The Lord of Divine Anomalies now felt his decision had been absolutely correct.

The fact that Gu An hadn’t killed Li Ya yet clearly showed he was giving the Sword Sovereign face.

Three breaths later—

Gu An raised his right hand, palm facing the sky.

“Sword Sover—”

Before the voice could finish, the face in the sky vanished.

Gu An calmly lowered his hand.

Suddenly, the world fell into silence.

Li Ya stared wide-eyed. He could see that the thunderclouds had been punched through—a massive void where the face had once been.

He instinctively turned toward Gu An—and saw that in Gu An’s palm was an old man, shrouded in mist, full of terror and struggling in vain.

Li Ya couldn’t hear what the old man was saying.

Gu An disappeared.

The Divine Anomaly Spirit reappeared on Li Ya’s shoulder, patting her tiny chest, looking extremely shaken.

Zhang Bukui and the Lord of Divine Anomalies were both stunned.

They had expected an earth-shattering battle. The Lord of Divine Anomalies had even prepared for the heavens to collapse—but that mysterious powerhouse from the Holy Court had just been… captured?

Just how powerful was the Sword Sovereign?

Fear blossomed in the Lord of Divine Anomalies’ heart. A chilling possibility crossed his mind—

Could the Sword Sovereign really be a Heavenly Demon? Had he always stood opposite to the Holy Court?

Ocean waves crashed.

Gu An sat on a reef, a Lifespan Barrier already activated. His right hand was open—and sitting cross-legged within was the old man from before, none other than the Mystic Celestial Immortal guarding the main city of the Severed Sea Domain.

Gu An was casting the Great Soul-Imprisoning Immortal Technique, searching the man’s memories.

His name was Luo Xuzi, a reincarnated Heavenly Demon and a fourth-tier Heavenly Official of the Holy Court—one of Great Dark Saint King’s closest subordinates.

Many of Luo Xuzi’s memories were protected by mysterious spells. Any intrusion would destroy them—especially those involving the Great Dark Saint King.

Unfortunately for him, such tricks were child’s play against Gu An’s divine sense. He easily cracked through the defenses and saw glimpses of Luo Xuzi’s dealings with the Saint King.

It was true—the Severed Sea Domain was established under orders from the Great Dark Saint King. His old enemy, the Saint King of Eternal Light, was hiding there.

At first, the Great Dark Saint King simply wanted to eliminate Eternal Light, casting him into endless reincarnation. But many underlings had taken the opportunity to profit, and it brought calamity to the domain.

After Gu An’s intervention, the Great Dark Saint King labeled him an enemy. Now, he suspected Gu An himself was also a reincarnated Heavenly Demon, which is why he sent Luo Xuzi.

From Luo Xuzi’s memories, the Saint King wasn’t a Heavenly Demon—but he was frantically hunting for reincarnated ones. His goal? Unknown.

It wasn’t that the Holy Court was against the Sword Sovereign.

This was all the Great Dark Saint King’s doing.

The Holy Court had deep roots and countless factions. The Severed Sea Domain seemed vast, but on the scale of the Heavenly Great Realm, it was insignificant—not even worthy of the true third-rank Heavenly Positions.

Those ranked third were Saint Kings, of which the Holy Court had many. Above them were second-rank Saints Prime, and above them still—first-rank Saints Divine.

After finishing the soul search, Gu An crushed Luo Xuzi’s soul.

He wasn’t worried about the Saint King’s next move. In fact, he was curious.

How would the Great Dark Saint King react, now that his agents kept vanishing one by one?

Sure, the Holy Court didn’t care about the Severed Sea Domain. But the battle between Gu An and the Grand Cold Demon Sect had reached their ears. The fact that the Sword Sovereign was being recruited meant most Holy Court leaders admired his actions.

That’s why the Saint King was forced to act from the shadows.

A prompt flashed in front of Gu An—he’d just seized over twenty thousand years of lifespan from Luo Xuzi.

Tsk, these bigshots really love going all-in, always showing up in person.

Not that it mattered—no matter how well they hid, Gu An had ways to find them.

Back in the Seven Star Spirit Realm, one man had escaped him—Thousand-Faced Divine Lord. But Gu An let him go, thinking he’d finally learned his lesson.

Cultivation was hard enough. If someone knew when to yield, Gu An could appreciate that.

So far, Thousand-Faced Divine Lord was the only one who had escaped him. Honestly, Gu An was kind of curious—just how far could that guy go?

Gu An stood and vanished from the reef.

Severed Sea Domain Main City, inside a dark hall.

Domain Lord Qingsongzi stood on the steps, hands behind his back, brows tightly furrowed.

Why did everything suddenly go silent? Could even Luo Xuzi have lost to the Sword Sovereign? Even so, there should have been some sign…

Dressed in a long green robe, he looked around forty, exuding the pressure of authority.

His cultivation was at Free Soaring Immortal Stage, Seventh Layer, and he was the Court-recognized lord of the domain. But now, for the first time, he felt deeply uneasy.

The Severed Sea Rift lay just below. If a battle broke out, he’d sense it instantly.

But now, he didn’t even dare extend his divine sense down there—afraid of what he might stir up.

Even if Luo Xuzi failed, surely the Sword Sovereign wouldn’t dare go against the Holy Court directly? Best to just play dumb.

Just then, footsteps approached.

Lu Xianyi strode in swiftly, afterimages trailing behind him.

He stopped at the steps, bowed with a smile. “Senior, you summoned me?”

Qingsongzi turned and smiled. “I was your father’s senior brother—no need to call me ‘Senior.’ Call me Uncle-Master.”

“Uncle-Master,” Lu Xianyi replied, already figuring Qingsongzi needed something—that’s why the politeness.

He also knew a thing or two about the Great Dark Saint King behind Qingsongzi.

Could the domain city have just been humiliated by the Sword Sovereign?

Lu Xianyi was quietly pleased. Over the years, he’d seen many Holy Court operatives sneak into the Taicang Continent, and even Taixuan Sect, to investigate the Sword Sovereign. Clearly, the Saint King wasn’t ready to give up.

The Grand Cold Demon Sect had been one of the Saint King’s most powerful weapons. He’d done plenty of dirty work for the Court through them, and that’s how he’d gained so much influence.

Yes—the catastrophe in the domain had been blamed on the Saint King. But in the Holy Court, that was just a small mistake. Some even suspected he was scheming against the Saint King of Eternal Light. Many chose to turn a blind eye.

Between a reigning Saint King and one stuck in reincarnation—well, the choice was obvious.

Qingsongzi looked at Lu Xianyi and smiled. “The Sword Sovereign won’t accept the Holy Court’s Fate-Binding Title. You’ve been in Taixuan Sect for years—what do you think we should do? Leave him alone, or dig into his background?”

Lu Xianyi thought, Knew it.

He replied, “Uncle-Master, do you think the Sword Sovereign is strong?”

“Of course. Far beyond what I could match,” Qingsongzi answered without hesitation.

Lu Xianyi then asked, “Then why risk offending him? Why not just focus on managing the domain?”

Qingsongzi frowned slightly.

Lu Xianyi added meaningfully, “The Sword Sovereign appeared where the Saint King of Eternal Light reincarnated. There may be karmic ties. Why he hides his identity… that’s worth thinking about. My father once said, surviving in the Holy Court—no matter your realm—is like walking on thin ice. Staying alive is what matters most.”