327: Chapter 327 The Green-Robed Sword Slave Guarding the Heavenly Gate!

The black vortex was like the giant maw of an abyss, frantically devouring everything around it.

The stones and fragments of the jade platform in the secret room were all sucked in, instantly ground into powder.

Mary let out a scream as she lost her balance. Her feet left the ground, and she flew directly toward the center of the vortex.

She flailed her hands wildly, trying to grab onto something to steady herself, but it was all in vain.

Su Yang was quick to react. He thrust out his right hand, grabbed Mary's wrist, and pulled her back with force, pinning her steadily to the ground beside him.

“Be careful, stand firm.”

Su Yang's voice was flat.

Bai Li quickly waved the round fan in her hand.

Purple demonic power surged, transforming into a sturdy semi-spherical shield that protected Qin Xueji in the center, resisting the terrifying suction from outside.

Ripples appeared on the surface of the shield, which emitted a constant humming sound.

Chu Ling stood beside Su Yang, her ice-blue gown swaying in the wind.

Her legs were planted in the ground like nails, and waves of cold air emanated from her body. A thin layer of ice formed on the surrounding ground to help her withstand the gale.

“Boss, the suction of the vortex is getting stronger; this secret room is about to collapse!”

Qin Xueji's face turned pale. She gripped Bai Li's sleeve tightly and shouted loudly.

Su Yang looked at the black vortex ahead, his gaze very calm.

“Since the door is open, let's go inside and see what's going on.”

A ball of dazzling golden Pure Yang True Fire erupted from Su Yang's body.

The flames expanded rapidly, turning into a massive golden fire shield that enveloped all four women within it.

He did not retreat; instead, he stepped forward, proactively leading everyone toward the black vortex.

After passing through a patch of darkness, the feeling of weightlessness instantly vanished.

Everyone's feet were once again planted on hard stone slabs.

Golden flames illuminated the surroundings, and everyone's vision became clear again.

Before them was a very wide white jade platform.

The platform was suspended in mid-air, surrounded by a churning sea of white clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Directly in front of the platform was a broad white jade staircase that extended upward, disappearing into the depths of the thick cloud layer.

At the top of the clouds, a golden gate ten thousand zhang high stood indistinctly.

The gate was tightly shut.

Complex runes were carved on the gate's surface, emitting a heart-palpitating pressure. Two giant ancient characters were inscribed on it: Heavenly Gate.

“Boss, is this the place the token was guiding us to?”

Chu Ling looked up at the golden gate high in the sky and asked softly.

Su Yang nodded and put the golden token into his Storage Ring.

“It seems the Ancestral Master of the Celestial Masters Sect only found the entrance but didn't have the ability to walk inside.” Su Yang's tone was steady, completely unfazed by the sight before him.

“Let's go up and take a look.”

Su Yang took the lead and stepped onto the white jade staircase. Qin Xueji followed closely behind, afraid of falling behind.

There were no railings on either side of the stairs; below was a bottomless abyss. A slight slip would surely result in being smashed to pieces.

Qin Xueji looked at the sea of clouds beneath her feet, and her legs couldn't help but feel weak.

She could only stare at Su Yang's broad back, forcing herself not to think about the consequences of falling.

Bai Li, Chu Ling, and Mary walked on either side.

Just as they stepped onto the tenth stair.

The sea of clouds ahead suddenly churned violently. The surrounding air became extremely oppressive.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several sharp sounds of breaking air rang out.

A dozen or so illusory figures rushed out from the sea of clouds, landing steadily on the stairs ahead.

These figures wore white robes and held translucent longswords.

They had no physical forms, and their bodies emitted a faint white light; they were all Sword Souls left behind after the deaths of Sword Cultivators.

“Those who trespass the Heavenly Gate shall die!”

The dozen or so Sword Souls raised their longswords simultaneously, their voices hollow and devoid of emotion.

“Playing tricks.”

Su Yang stopped in his tracks, his hands behind his back.

Mary had long been unable to restrain herself. She unfurled her black bat wings and flew into the air.

“A bunch of lonely ghosts without even a Physical Body dare to block the way! This Young Miss will tear you to pieces!”

Sharp blood-colored nails grew from Mary's hands as she turned into a streak of black lightning, pouncing directly at the foremost Sword Soul.

Her claws lashed out, viciously raking across the Sword Soul's chest.

Whoosh!

Mary's claws passed directly through the Sword Soul's body, as if she were grabbing at air, with no sense of resistance at all.

The Sword Soul countered with a sword strike, carrying a bone-chilling cold as it slashed toward Mary's shoulder.

Startled, Mary hurriedly dodged to the side.

The Sword Qi brushed past her shoulder, severing a few strands of her long golden hair.

“Damn it! Physical attacks are useless against them!”

Mary quickly flew back into the air, stomping her feet in frustration.

Chu Ling took a step forward. Her ice-blue gown fluttered in the wind.

“To deal with souls without physical forms, one must use Yin-cold energy to freeze their Origin.”

Chu Ling's hands quickly formed seals.

A surge of dark blue cold current erupted from her body, sweeping up the stairs.

The temperature of the cold current was extremely low, causing the surrounding clouds and mist to instantly freeze into ice crystals and fall.

The dozen or so Sword Souls were hit by the cold current; the white light on their bodies dimmed rapidly, and their movements became very sluggish.

A thin layer of frost covered them.

“Shatter!”

Chu Ling threw a punch from a distance. The bodies of the dozen or so Sword Souls shattered along with it, dissipating into countless points of light in mid-air.

“Nicely done,” Su Yang praised casually.

Chu Ling raised her fair chin, a hint of pride appearing on her beautiful face: “Just some small fry; there's no need for the Boss to take action.”

No sooner had she spoken.

Even denser sounds of breaking air came from the clouds ahead.

This time, over a hundred Sword Souls flew out from the sea of clouds, standing densely at the top of the stairs.

The Sword Qi emitted by each Sword Soul was twice as powerful as before.

Their eyes were hollow, and their movements were perfectly synchronized, like a well-trained army.

They arranged themselves into an orderly sword Formation.

Over a hundred translucent longswords pointed at Su Yang's group simultaneously. The sword light intertwined to form a dazzling net of light.

A strong aura of slaughter rushed toward them.

Qin Xueji felt it difficult to breathe, her face turning pale.

“Boss, there are too many of them, and they've formed a Formation,” Bai Li reminded him, clutching her round fan.

Su Yang's gaze didn't change in the slightest.

“No matter how many come, they're just a pile of scrap metal.”

Su Yang did not continue walking forward.

He raised his right hand and clenched his fingers into a fist.

Golden Pure Yang True Fire instantly ignited on his knuckles.

The flames were interspersed with purple-blue lightning.

The mutated Pure Yang True Fire emitted a terrifyingly high temperature capable of incinerating all things.

“Break for me.”

Su Yang threw a punch upward.

A massive golden fist radiance, like a baring-clawed fire dragon, carried violent power and slammed fiercely into the hundred-man sword Formation at the top of the stairs.

The Sword Souls swung their swords in unison, their hundred Sword Qis merging into a massive sword radiance dozens of zhang long, slashing down to meet the fire dragon.

Boom!

A loud explosion erupted in mid-air.

The golden fire dragon and the massive sword radiance collided. Pure Yang True Fire specifically countered sinister soul bodies.

The fire dragon opened its maw and swallowed the massive sword radiance in one gulp.

The flames continued their momentum unabated, crashing into the center of the sword Formation.

“Ah!”

Shrill screams rang out.

Under the incineration of the Pure Yang True Fire, the hundred-plus Sword Souls couldn't even last a second, instantly turning into a sky full of green smoke and being completely annihilated.

One punch cleared the field.

Su Yang lowered his right hand and shook his wrist.

“Let's go.”

He continued walking upward. The staircase was very long, as if it would never end.

The group followed Su Yang, stepping on the white jade stairs all the way up.

Several more waves of Sword Souls appeared along the way, but they were all burned into nothingness by the golden flames Su Yang casually threw out.

They walked for about half an hour.

The clouds and mist gradually thinned. The staircase finally reached its end.

Ahead appeared an incomparably vast plaza.

At the end of the plaza was the golden Heavenly Gate, ten thousand zhang high.

The Heavenly Gate was tightly shut. Its surface was carved with complex runes, emitting a heart-palpitating pressure.

Directly in front of the Heavenly Gate sat a man cross-legged.

The man wore a tattered blue robe, and an iron sword in its scabbard rested on his knees.

The iron sword looked very ordinary, its scabbard covered in rust.

The man's eyes were closed, and there was no fluctuation of aura from his body. He was like a lifeless stone.

The moment Su Yang stepped onto the plaza.

The man slowly opened his eyes.

There were no whites or pupils in his eyes, only two clusters of piercing silver sword light that flickered constantly.

A terrifying Sword Intent capable of tearing the heavens and earth apart erupted from his body.

The surrounding air emitted an overburdened humming sound.

“Get back,” Su Yang said in a low voice.

Bai Li retreated quickly, shielding Qin Xueji behind her.

Chu Ling and Mary also sensed the danger from the blue-robed man and obediently retreated to the edge of the plaza.

The blue-robed man stood up and gripped the rusty sword hilt with his right hand.

“To be able to reach here means you have some skill.” The man's voice was raspy, like two pieces of metal rubbing together.

“However, the Heavenly Gate is a restricted area; Mortals must stay back. Those who cross the line shall be killed without mercy.”

Su Yang looked at the blue-robed man, a smile full of Battle Intent appearing at the corners of his mouth.

“A corpse refined into a Sword Slave—does it think it's worthy of lecturing me?”

Su Yang saw through the man's background at a glance.

The blue-robed man had long been dead; only a husk remained, forcibly driven by a powerful Sword Intent to become a gate-keeping Puppet.

“Seeking death.”

The blue-robed man didn't waste words. He suddenly drew the iron sword with his right hand.

Clang!

A crisp sword cry echoed through the clouds.

The moment the iron sword left its scabbard, all the rust on it fell away.

A longsword that was snow-white throughout and emitted a bone-chilling cold appeared in his hand.

The man leaped up, his body turning into a streak of silver lightning in mid-air.

The longsword carried a force that could destroy anything in its path, stabbing directly toward Su Yang's throat.

The sword tip sliced through the air, making a sharp whistling sound as if even space were about to be split in two.

Before the Sword Qi even arrived, the sharp wind had already carved a deep sword mark into the white jade bricks of the plaza floor.

Su Yang had no intention of dodging.

He suddenly clenched his right fist, and dazzling golden flames soared into the sky.

“Today, I will break your sword and smash your gate!”

Su Yang strode forward to meet him, throwing a punch fiercely at the incoming snow-white longsword.