In the instant that lightning struck the statue, Chen Jing felt a crazy tearing pain. It wasn't his physical body that was torn apart, but his soul. Chen Jing couldn't describe his own feelings, it was as if he were a withered leaf in the ocean waves, or an ant crushed by a great mountain, or being cut in two by a sword. In his eyes, there seemed to be endless flashes of lightning.

  He didn't know how long it had been before he finally realized his consciousness hadn't dissipated and that he was still alive.

  That black-clad and raven-haired youth stepped onto the river surface, one step forward and he had already arrived at Quixian Bend, another step and he was in front of the River God Temple on the riverbank dike.

  He only saw him bowing to the River God Temple, saying: "Guiyuan thanks the River God for saving his life." His hand was still holding that purple wooden hairpin.

  "I have been the River God for over a decade, I didn't expect that there would be such great abilities hidden in the river domain, ashamed, ashamed."

  "A fugitive who barely escaped with his life, how dare he claim to be a great master? Now that he can transform is merely because he has benefited from the blessings of the River God. After listening to 'The Heavenly Demon's Transformation Chapter', he finally understood the wonders of transformation. He never thought that the heavenly calamity would come so quickly, and there are still **on his body. If it weren't for the River God, by now Guiyuan would have already become a golden elixir in someone else's alchemical furnace."

  "I am the River God, and you are within my domain, I have a responsibility to keep you safe."

  Turtle Abyss smiled lightly, his black hair and black clothes blending into the darkness of night like a streak of black light. If it were an ordinary person, even if they passed by him, they wouldn't notice him. He looked young, but had an air of quietness that only old men possessed, with eyes that seemed to see through worldly affairs, just like an old turtle.

  He said, "I heard that someone has trapped Ye Xianzi, and the River God cannot leave here. Although my magical powers are weak, I want to replace the River God to go and find out if I can help Ye Xianzi."

  "If I can get help, I'll be eternally grateful. If my master sister is really trapped, but I don't know where she's being held, it's probably hard to find."

  "Hehe, although my magical powers are weak, I still have some understanding of the art of numerology, and I can find Ye Xianzi."

  "Then I'll trouble you to take that purple hairpin with you, my senior sister has this pin in her hand and is a hundred times better than me. It seems that it won't be easy to trap her again."

  Guī Yuān hesitated for a moment and said: "I will take this thing away, if another enemy comes, what will the River God use to defend against the enemy?"

  "My physical body may be immobile, but my divine thoughts can mobilize the spiritual energy of the river domain. Please rest assured," Chen Jing said confidently.

  Guī Yuān smiled and said: "Then Guī Yuān will go." After finishing speaking, he turned around and stepped out, merging into the boundless night like a bat.

  This night seems especially long, the starlight is also chaotic, and there are a lot of people around the Quixian River.

  In the darkness of a mountain top, someone said in a loud and rough voice: "That purple hairpin was taken away by that turtle demon, do we want to go and intercept it?"

  "We came here only for revenge, the purple hairpin is not bad, but it's a treasure of another school, and even if we get it, we can't exert much power. What's the use of getting it? Moreover, that turtle demon doesn't seem to be showing off his skills, but when he resisted the heavenly tribulation earlier, his powers were higher than ours. It won't be easy to intercept him. Ye Qingxue has already been trapped and may have died by now. If we don't take action soon, they'll kill Ye Qingxue and then come after us, making fools of us." The voice was calm and even, showing that the speaker knew what was important and what wasn't, and would be a leader wherever he went.

  "But earlier, his final blow revealed a power that I'm afraid neither of us can withstand." Another relatively gentle voice said.

  "Haha, that previous move was indeed stunning. If we were the ones who encountered it, we would have been blown to smithereens just like them. However, that move relied on the Purple Wood Hairpin's magical artifact to harness the power of thunder and strike. This is a fundamental technique for us cultivators to borrow the power of heaven and earth. You guys didn't even notice it. Haha, now he has no treasure in hand, nor can he use thunder again. How could he possibly use that heavenly sword technique from before?"

  "What are we waiting for? Let's go and destroy that statue now. Chen Jing will naturally be scared out of his wits."

  No one replied, but there was a spiritual aura circulating in the darkness.

  The twinkling starlight above the nine heavens is hardly enough to illuminate this vast land.

  Chen Jing, although he seemed calm when talking to Guiyuan, was still unsure if he could really withstand the enemy in the darkness. Just now, when the lightning struck the statue, it looked like only an instant, but for anyone, being able to survive already counted as a miracle. He himself knew how difficult it was, and what made his heart palpitate was that destructive power that directly attacked his soul. If he hadn't been constantly guarding his Dao heart, his consciousness would have collapsed in that instant. This was also because he was originally a sword cultivator, and his willpower was much more tenacious than others. Moreover, the over 300 years of struggling to cultivate his heart in Qin Guangcheng had made his Dao heart as solid as a rock, so it wouldn't be scattered by that formless destructive aura.

  His entire body ached, then turned numb. Originally, his body was like a statue, and he shouldn't have felt anything at all. But unexpectedly, after being struck by lightning, his stone-like body seemed to have undergone some changes.

  The statue doesn't seem to have changed at all, which makes Chen Jing think of what Da Xia said, that this statue was built by Ye Qingxue herself. All along, he hadn't found anything special about it and thought it was just an ordinary stone statue. He never expected that under such a powerful thunderbolt, it would still be intact.

  The only visible change was that the stone sword at the waist of the statue had a small crack at its tip. As for the internal changes within the stone sword, Chen Jing felt that it contained a rich and sharp golden energy, which was the Misty Heaven Sword. The sword spirit, Butterfly, was still inside, and the spiritual energy felt even more intense than before.

  He knew that the Mystic Heaven Sword had undergone a tremendous change. If he wasn't mistaken, the Mystic Heaven Sword, which had been struck by lightning once, not only contained the power of thunder but had also reached the level of transformation, where the sword could transform into nothingness and transform into all things.

  Just as he had just felt the change in the statue, four figures floated down in front of the river temple. The first person looked ordinary and calm, with a peaceful aura emanating from his body. His Taoist robe was also plain, and on his back was a long sword with a yellow handle. On his left stood two people, and on his right stood one person, making a total of four people.

  Before they could even open their mouths, a voice had already come from within the River God Temple: "You have come to kill me."

  "Haha, can't say much, I'll take the place of heaven and send you back to hell." The old man with a dignified appearance said in a calm and peaceful tone.

  "I was originally a god among men, why mention returning?"

  "Who sealed it?" he asked tightly.

  Chen Jing fell silent, and the man continued to say: "In those years, the Jade Emperor of Heaven sealed the gods under heaven, unified the immortals, and the world was in order. But today, the heavenly court is not visible, the orthodox gods have disappeared, ghosts claim to be spirits, demons occupy the position of gods, and devils wreak havoc among humans. You call yourself a god, falsely claiming to be orthodox, deceiving the people of the world. We cultivators have the responsibility to eliminate demons and protect the Tao."

  In the darkness, there was a moment of silence, and his face showed a hint of color.

  Others looked at each other and wanted to take action, and another voice came from the River God Temple: "I have always thought that all living things in the world have human nature, why must they be divided into several levels. I do have a murderous heart, but it is not my true nature, why do you insist on forcing me? If I make a vow to never leave Xiu Chun Bay, can you stop?"

  "Haha......" The man burst out laughing, and the other three people's mouths slightly moved, revealing a smile.

  "Heaven's law is cyclical, when you killed yesterday, you should have thought of today."

  "A voice came out from the River God Temple again: 'Why are you making things difficult for my master sister?'"

  "Yue Qingxue has her own way of dying, and it's pointless to tell you, a demon who will die soon. You just need to know that you'll be killed by Luo Fu's Li Henzi Sword."

  In their opinion, Chen Jing would say such a thing, obviously fearful in his heart, and begging for mercy. They couldn't help but smile slightly at each other.

  But just as their smiles were born, a white light burst out of the River God Temple. A faint sword hum accompanied by icy killing intent soared into the sky.

  A white light like a sword shape bursts out from the temple of gods, like a well-trained horse.

  Suddenly, the Li Henzi was shocked and shouted loudly: "Transforming Sword Qi...", as soon as his voice rose, he had already flown backwards and upwards at an extremely fast speed. His body was like a phantom, with each step creating an illusion, and a faint sword hum could be heard in his ears, with icy killing intent seeming to slash down on him from above. The sword on his back suddenly flew out and created a sword curtain behind him. Without touching anything, he flew away without looking back for dozens of miles, and from high up in the air, he looked towards the He Sheng Temple using a secret technique, only to see three headless corpses in front of the temple, with no one having had time to summon their magical treasures.

  His back was actually covered in fine sweat, and the sword in his hand trembled slightly. At this time, the River God Temple was quiet and still, without a single movement, but he didn't dare to get any closer.

  He didn't know why Chen Jing not only didn't die, but the sword and swordsmanship had actually truly entered the house. To others, wielding a sword for a hundred miles and beheading an enemy's head was already considered a Sword Immortal. However, he also practiced swordsmanship and knew that this was just the beginning of entering the door of sword cultivation. The later stages of sword condensation and refining the aura would make countless cultivators unable to surpass in their lifetime, but truly stepping into the door of Sword Immortality was still the transformation of the sword into nothingness, or formlessness.

  It's like a demon cultivator transforming into a golden elixir. If we compare it to the realm of magic, it means that the law has a true form. Magic is originally formless and imageless, but when the formless magic is used as if it had substance, then the magic enters a completely new realm. Ye Qingxue was like this, so under similar magical powers, facing Ye Qingxue gave one a feeling of being at a loss for what to do.

  Luofu, as the world's top sect, naturally has a complete set of sword cultivation methods for its disciples. Qianlu Mountain is just a small sect, and Chen Jing only spent three years in the mountain, which can be considered as a wild child from a humble background. He only knew about condensing and refining his aura, but didn't know about further advanced techniques like making his sword invisible. However, he had already vaguely felt it in his heart, but hadn't had the chance to think about these things for so long.

  He left, deciding to return to the mountain gate and focus on his cultivation. He would come back to find Chen Jing after his skills were fully developed. Cultivation knows no time, so he would wait a hundred years before coming back to see if he was still alive in this world. Even if he was a once-in-a-lifetime talent, if he couldn't live forever, he would be nothing more than a shooting star falling from the sky.