At the highest realm of the myriad heavens.
Chen Xia's deployment to the front lines was delayed, and he waited alongside the saints.
Bored, he spent his time in solitary cultivation or chatting with Heaven Mending Realm cultivators.
He liked conversing with Heaven Mending Realm cultivators because they were more straightforward, and Chen Xia could guide them on what they didn't understand.
Although he said that, Chen Xia didn't actually understand the Heaven Mending Realm.
This was because he had never reached that realm; he jumped directly from the Sea Inversing Realm to the quasi-saint level.
He skipped two realms in his cultivation journey: the Mahayana Peak and the Heaven Mending Realm.
It was all due to his extraordinary talent, having become accustomed to skipping levels.
Apart from Heaven Mending Realm cultivators, the saints also formed their own circles, each group of saints gathering together.
Chen Xia didn't join any of these circles. Great Saint Xuanguang had invited him, but Chen Xia declined, preferring to walk alone.
Some saints commented on him:
"Strange, really strange. How can there be such a solitary person? It seems he doesn't understand much."
"Maybe he's just very capable. Even the Great Emperor holds him in high regard. It's natural for him to look down on us; he's above us all."
These were sarcastic remarks.
There were many such discussions, but Chen Xia paid them no mind. When he was truly bored, he thought about the Blue Sky Sword Sea, the realms, and Xu Zhen.
He hoped the Blue Sky Sword Sea was safe.
He thought this again.
"Senior Chen, Senior Chen, I've had a slight insight into the sword path. Could you take a look and see if it's correct?"
A Heaven Mending Realm cultivator ran up to him, excitedly demonstrating his newly comprehended sword path.
It was more of a combination of sword intent and sword qi, with some flames flickering.
"Keep practicing like this, and you should be able to enter the Fire Path," Chen Xia commented after watching.
It had nothing to do with the sword path.
The Heaven Mending Realm cultivator wasn't discouraged. After thanking Chen Xia, he ran off to practice other divine abilities.
The relatively peaceful days didn't last long. Soon, a Great Emperor arrived to order them to the front lines, saying the next batch of cultivators would soon arrive.
The saints were both nervous and excited, believing they could finally prove themselves, perhaps even slay a few saints and achieve great merit.
The cultivators moved out one by one until they reached the front lines.
The front lines were actually a battle line formed by dozens of already purged and destroyed star realms.
Chen Xia and his group arrived on the left flank, the weakest side, where the highest-ranking dark remnant was said to be a three-path Great Emperor.
It was slightly weaker than the middle and right flanks.
Chen Xia ascended the front lines, surveying the scene, where battles raged in the void, with saints falling and their bodies and blood being devoured by the Heavenly Dao.
Further in, Great Emperors clashed, their aura spreading, causing even quasi-saints to tremble.
The eastern front was led by five Great Emperors, who now allowed Chen Xia's team to choose their own timing to engage in battle.
There were no schemes or tricks, just pure slaughter.
At their level, if you couldn't win, there was no need for explanations.
Strength was everything.
Although the saints were nervous, they were seasoned fighters and not afraid. They found their timing and charged into the front lines to battle dark remnants of the same level.
If they couldn't find an opponent, the saints would actively resist the Heavenly Dao's purge.
Everyone had their role.
Only Chen Xia hadn't moved. He was wiping a sword with his sleeve.
A sword that looked very bright and ancient.
Many cultivators watched him, curious to see what abilities this solitary figure possessed.
A step forward, a Great Emperor stood beside Chen Xia, smiling and asking, "Why haven't you gone yet?"
"Just waiting," Chen Xia replied.
The Great Emperor glanced slightly, examining the flying sword, and nodded in approval.
"Good sword."
"It's just an Immortal Sword image; the main body isn't here," Chen Xia replied with a light smile.
He was still waiting.
Waiting for the right target to appear.
It didn't take long.
Hum.
The Immortal Sword hummed softly.
Chen Xia lifted the sword, and his figure had already appeared at the forefront of the battle line.
There stood a dark remnant, a Great Emperor.
"Oh, a Great Saint?" The Great Emperor asked in surprise, then laughed, "Looking for death?"
"I want to live," Chen Xia replied calmly, then grinned, adding, "And I want your life."
He tilted the sword slightly, and the Immortal Sword image flashed with boundless sword light, covering everything around.
Many eyes turned to look, mostly in surprise.
When the sword light faded, Chen Xia's figure remained in place, and the Great Emperor hadn't moved either, even smiling at Chen Xia.
"Good sword, but the person isn't good. No power at all?"
"Three breaths left," Chen Xia's eyes glowed with deep gray-white light, and the Time Dao flowed.
"What?" The Great Emperor didn't understand. Suddenly, he looked down and saw a large sword mark on his chest, bleeding and causing intense pain.
As a Great Emperor, he immediately recognized it, exclaiming in surprise, "Time Dao?"
Chen Xia had already placed his hand in front of him, his index and thumb forming a circle, with the Great Emperor inside, and said, "Celestial Dragon, come."
Boom!
A massive Celestial Dragon head emerged from the void, swallowing the Great Emperor whole, with sword dao and Time Dao flowing within, erasing past and future.
The Great Emperor wasn't easy to kill, so the Celestial Dragon head didn't hold him. He escaped with a mysterious body, frowning at Chen Xia.
"A four-path Great Saint?"
"Slow reaction," Chen Xia spun his Immortal Sword, appearing behind the Great Emperor, and the sword light flashed with gray-white light again.
Another sword mark appeared on the Great Emperor's body.
With the complete Immortal Sword here, even if it was just an image, it had seventy percent of its killing power, enough to wound an ordinary Great Emperor.
The Great Emperor frowned, unwilling to continue fighting this freakish Chen Xia, and turned to flee into the vast dark invasion.
This meant Chen Xia had driven back the Great Emperor.
"Wow, he's really fierce!" Some cultivators couldn't help but exclaim.
"A Great Saint driving back a Great Emperor, isn't that the wrong way around?!"
"..."
The cultivators discussed among themselves.
Chen Xia, as usual, didn't hear them and didn't return. He seemed dissatisfied with the result of driving back the Great Emperor, so he made a decision that shocked and stunned all the cultivators present.
He pursued into the dark invasion, sword in hand.
...
The Great Emperor guarding the front lines watched in astonishment, wondering if today's youngsters were playing too dangerously.
The outcome was unknown.
Half a month later.
A blood-soaked figure emerged from the dark invasion, still holding a sword, but limping, with many visible wounds and shallow breathing.
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was the Great Emperor's head he held in his hand!
Damn!
He really killed one!
Today, the front lines erupted with excitement, the morale reaching an unprecedented high.
Later, a Great Emperor asked Chen Xia why he dared to chase into the dark invasion, wasn't he afraid of dying?
Chen Xia nodded and smiled lightly, "I won't die. I have many trump cards, and I don't like people who act tough in front of me and then run away."
"If I can kill, I kill. It's that simple."
This was the first Great Emperor Chen Xia killed on the front lines.
In the countless years to come, there would be many more.
He would become the sharpest sword and the toughest shield on the front lines.
Please send some free gifts, brothers. Also, because I write a lot, I might get dizzy and make typos. If you find any, please point them out, and I'll correct them as soon as I see them.
Good night, good night.