The memories of all humanity are awakening, except for mine.

The generals were gathered on the inner city walls, their faces grave as they gazed at the already fallen outer city. If Xie Xuan and Zhang Wei could not quickly turn the tide of the battle in Zhongtian, Hulao Pass would likely be difficult to hold.

"What should we do? What if Zhang Wei and Xie Xuan are defeated?" a general asked anxiously, trembling.

"Don't worry, Zhang Wei and Xie Xuan are both strong warriors in our army. They will definitely defeat the enemy." Another general reassured him, but his tone also carried a hint of uncertainty.

Jiang Chuan, the wise man who had been closely observing the battle, now stood atop the inner city wall, witnessing the horrific scene before him.

The cruelty of war lies in the fact that, in the face of life and death, the victor is always king and the loser is condemned.

The generals at Hulao Pass placed their hopes on Zhongtian.

"Xie Xuan, Zhang Wei, you must win..." Jiang Chuan murmured to himself.

High in the sky. Zhang Wei's injuries worsened, his clothes were stained with blood, and his steps began to falter. Although his sword movements were somewhat slow, each attack still carried powerful spiritual energy.

Under the protection of the magic array, Xian Zhen fought with increasing ferocity. His clones continuously attacked Zhang Wei, keeping Zhang Wei constantly on the defensive.

"Zhang Wei, you are doomed! Today is your end!" Xian Zhen laughed wildly, thrusting his long sword at Zhang Wei once more.

Zhang Wei dodged the fatal blow by sidestepping. However, a tiny crack appeared in his spirit armor from the attack.

Xianzhen was overjoyed; his chance had come.

"Die!" Xian Zhen shouted, instantly appearing in front of Zhang Wei, his long sword carrying a sharp demonic aura, thrusting towards Zhang Wei's chest.

Zhang Wei tried to dodge, but his body reacted slowly due to his injuries and fatigue.

He could only raise his longsword to barely defend himself. With a loud clang, the two swords clashed, and the powerful force sent Zhang Wei flying.

He crashed heavily to the ground, the cracks in his spirit armor becoming more pronounced, and the spiritual energy within his body beginning to stagnate. Zhang Wei's defeat seemed inevitable.

Meanwhile, the battle between Xie Xuan and Li Tianxing has entered a crucial stage.

Xie Xuan held the peerless imperial sword, its blade emitting a blinding white light that distorted the surrounding air.

Li Tianxing was in the demonic formation, surrounded by demonic energy, confronting Xie Xuan.

"Xie Xuan, you're only at the Myriad Manifestations Realm, and your cultivation has regressed so much. You still want to fight me? The might of the Sword Emperor back then is probably long gone!" Li Tianxing mocked, his face filled with contempt.

Xie Xuan remained calm and said indifferently, "At the Myriad Manifestations Realm, killing you is enough."

"Hmph, what arrogance! Today, I'll see just how capable you are at the Myriad Manifestations Realm!" Li Tianxing roared, his demonic energy surging instantly, and the demonic sword in his hand shone brightly as he attacked Xie Xuan.

Xie Xuan remained calm, rapidly circulating his spiritual energy. With a gentle swing of his peerless imperial sword, a powerful sword aura slashed towards Li Tianxing. Wherever the sword aura passed, space seemed to be torn apart, emitting a sizzling sound.

The power of the magic array allowed Li Tianxing to maintain his fighting strength, while Xie Xuan fought him to a standstill with the unparalleled power of the Imperial Sword.

The entire Zhongtian battlefield was enveloped by the power generated by the two's battle.

"Today, let's settle this with a single move!" Xie Xuan suddenly said.

"Good! Just what I wanted!" Li Tianxing laughed loudly, as he also pushed his own power to its limit.

The two shouted at the same time, each unleashing their strongest moves.

The light shone brightly, and powerful energy waves spread outwards.

Xie Xuan and Li Tianxing simultaneously emitted a burst of white light, and the aura of the Great Sage of Myriad Manifestations instantly spread out.

The aura was almost tangible, forming visible ripples that spread outwards.

The overwhelming pressure of the Heavenly Law swept across the entire Hulao Pass, causing sand and stones on the ground to fly everywhere it reached.

The soldiers watching from afar felt an invisible pressure bearing down on them, making it almost impossible for them to breathe. Many of them felt their legs go weak and involuntarily knelt down.

A huge phantom slowly emerged behind Xie Xuan.

The phantom was tall and imposing, dressed in ancient armor, holding a long sword, and exuding an aura of transcendence, as if the True Martial Emperor had descended to earth.

The battlefield was filled with righteous spirit, and many righteous people were invigorated, feeling a surge of inexplicable courage.

Meanwhile, behind Li Tianxing was a sea of ​​blood, with countless skeletons appearing and disappearing within it, radiating overwhelming demonic energy.

This demonic energy contrasted sharply with Xie Xuan's righteous aura; one was righteous, the other evil, and they were locked in a struggle, seemingly intent on splitting the world in two.

At this moment, the battle between the Taoist and Demonic sects, the contest between good and evil, reached its climax.

"Today, I will show you, this demonic fiend, the power of the righteous path!" Xie Xuan shouted, raising his long sword high.

The phantom of the True Martial Emperor behind him also made the same gesture.

Xie Xuan slashed down with his sword, and in an instant, the sword intent surged, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, and time seemed to stand still at that moment.

This sword strike contained all of Xie Xuan's power.

Li Tianxing snorted coldly and quickly formed hand seals.

As he moved, the sea of ​​blood beneath his feet churned, and countless skeletons emerged from it, instantly forming a skeleton army.

These skeletons, wielding weapons, charged towards Xie Xuan's sword intent with bared teeth and claws.

The two attacks collided violently in mid-air, and the energy shockwaves rippled outwards.

The void seemed unable to withstand this powerful force, and tiny cracks appeared.

The White Tiger Mystic Array at Hulao Pass sensed the aftershocks of this devastating force and activated on its own.

The chaotic radiance of the city-protecting formation enveloped the entire Hulao Pass, resisting the constantly surging energy.

In this epic duel, Xie Xuan's sword intent was unstoppable. In just one exchange, he instantly annihilated Li Tianxing's skeleton army.

The skeletons were reduced to dust and dissipated into the air by the impact of the sword intent.

Li Tianxing, however, did not panic. His face was grim. From the sea of ​​blood, a strange demonic tower slowly rose.

The tower was pitch black and exuded a chilling aura. Its surface was covered with all sorts of strange runes and ancient, evil incantations.

The demonic tower slowly rose, pointing directly at Xie Xuan's sword intent. The two collided again, and with a loud bang, although the demonic tower seemed about to crumble, Xie Xuan's sword intent was successfully blocked.

"Hmph, you think you can defeat me?" Li Tianxing sneered. As soon as he finished speaking, Li Tianxing's hands moved swiftly in front of his chest, summoning the Demonic Holy Weapon.

A streak of dark light shot out from his hand, heading straight for Xie Xuan's face. The light was incredibly fast, arriving in front of Xie Xuan in no time.

Xie Xuan was already on guard. He swiftly swung his Imperial Sword, Peerless, and a sword light flashed as he instantly summoned the Taiyi Divine Sword to try and block the dark light. The moment the sword light made contact with the dark light, Xie Xuan was greatly alarmed.

It turned out that the dark light was actually a string of Buddhist relic prayer beads. The beads emitted a faint light, both sacred and eerie, completely different from the attacks Xie Xuan had encountered before.

"What... what's going on?" Xie Xuan wondered to himself.

But he had no time to think. At that moment, Xie Xuan quickly adjusted his internal energy and unleashed the White Tiger Sword from the Four Symbols Sword Technique.

His body lit up, and a white tiger phantom appeared, accompanied by the power of wind and thunder, striking towards the dark light.

The White Tiger Sword is incredibly powerful; wherever it goes, the air vibrates and buzzes.

The moment the White Tiger Sword made contact with the dark light, a deafening roar resounded, shattering the demonic energy instantly, and the powerful energy caused the space to tremble.

Huge cracks appeared in the surrounding ground, as if torn apart by an invisible giant hand. In the end, both sides were forced back by the powerful energy impact.

Xie Xuan staggered back several steps before barely managing to steady himself. His face was pale, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

As for Li Tianxing, he was in no better shape. He swayed, his black robe torn to shreds by the energy impact, revealing his battered body underneath.

"Why is this demonic weapon so hard!" Emperor Sword Peerless exclaimed angrily. He had thought that with Xie Xuan's strength, he would be able to easily defeat Li Tianxing, but he hadn't expected it to be so difficult.

Zhang Wei, the King of Dushan, had been fighting his way through the demonic formation all night. By now, he was exhausted, his face was pale, and his strength was waning.

His movements with the spear seemed somewhat sluggish.

Xie Xuan's anxious gaze swept over Zhang Wei. If the battle continued like this, their side would inevitably fall into a losing position.

Because they lacked someone to break the formation, and Tao Hongjing had not yet arrived, time was running out for them to continue delaying.

"This can't go on any longer, we have to retreat!" Xie Xuan quickly made a decision in his mind.

He gathered all the remaining true energy in his body into the peerless imperial sword in his hand. With a loud shout, he slashed the sword towards the demonic array's seal.

A blinding sword light flashed, and the magic array's seal was instantly cleaved open, creating a huge gap.

"Zhang Wei, retreat!" Xie Xuan shouted.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wei, despite his exhaustion, quickly retreated towards Hulao Pass.

Xie Xuan stayed behind to cover the rear, in order to prevent Li Tianxing from pursuing them.

Li Tianxing was not about to let them go. He roared and unleashed the "Dragon Soaring in the Sky" technique. Demonic energy surged around him, and a huge demonic dragon emerged from his body, baring its fangs and claws as it chased after Xie Xuan and Zhang Wei.

The moment the demonic dragon descended upon Hulao Pass, it was repelled by the domineering counterattack of the White Tiger Mystic Formation. The demonic dragon seemed to have suffered a severe blow, collapsing with a roar and dissipating into countless demonic energies in the air.

"Hmph, you think you can chase us?" Xie Xuan snorted coldly and quickly retreated back to Hulao Pass.

Li Tianxing looked at Xie Xuan and the others who had retreated to Hulao Pass, a cold smile on his face. "Tao Hongjing will arrive, but it will take at least four more days."

"My demonic formation is supported by 100,000 ghost soldiers. Without a large army to charge into the formation, he alone will find it difficult to break through. I think Hulao Pass will not last more than three days and will surely become a dead city." Just as he sneered, a line of blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth.

This epic duel with Xie Xuan also took a huge toll on him.

Xie Xuan dragged his exhausted body and staggered into the inner city of Hulao Pass.

As soon as he appeared, the generals who had been waiting for a long time surrounded him.

"Coach, are you injured?"

Xie Xuan had suffered a great loss of energy in the fierce battle with Li Tianxing, and his body was weak and powerless. However, he still tried to remain calm, raised his hand and waved, saying, "Don't worry, everyone, I'm fine."

In reality, this battle severely wounded him, but morale was the most crucial factor at the moment, and he absolutely could not afford to lose his composure.

"Commander, how did the battle with Li Tianxing go today?"

"Yes, so what should we do next?"

Xie Xuan forced himself to stay calm and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. His voice was a little hoarse, but it was steady: "Don't panic, everyone. I'm fine."

His slightly trembling arms betrayed some of the fatigue from the battle.

Zhang Wei, his face full of worry, stepped forward and said, “Commander, that demonic formation is really strange. The 100,000 ghost soldiers are like tireless perpetual motion machines, wave after wave, and we can’t kill them all. It’s really difficult to deal with!”

Xie Xuan nodded slightly, his expression solemn: "This demonic formation is indeed troublesome. In the art of formations, I am no match for my old friend, Master Tongming. But you must understand that without breaking this formation, it will be difficult to kill Li Tianxing. This is a problem we must face."

Wang Lang looked concerned and hurriedly asked, "Commander, is Master Tongming confident that he can break the formation?"

Xie Xuan's gaze was resolute: "If he takes action, there is a 100% chance of breaking the formation."

However…” He didn’t continue, the situation remained grim, and it was far from time to relax.

Li Tianxing's arrogance outside the pass made everyone feel suffocated.

Xie Xuan pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "The best course of action for us now is to retreat and wait for Tao Hongjing to arrive."

This is the safest approach at the moment, but the situation has reached a critical stage, and every step must be taken with utmost care.

After arranging everything, Xie Xuan summoned Jiang Chuan and, with heavy steps, returned to the villa within the pass.

Jiang Chuan glanced at Xie Xuan every now and then, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

In the villa, the moonlight, like water, shone on the two of them.

Xie Xuanqiang roused himself, took out two manuals from his robes, handed them to Jiang Chuan, and said gently, "Jiang Chuan, these are the Four Symbols Sword Manual and the Taiyi Divine Sword. I wish to pass them on to you."

Jiang Chuan looked at the two manuals with longing, but quickly shook his head and said sincerely, "Master, I know that my strength is still shallow and I am not yet able to master such profound sword skills. I am afraid that I will fail to live up to your expectations."

Xie Xuan gently patted Jiang Chuan's shoulder, his expression tender: "I know what you're thinking. However, I'm about to leave to do something extremely important. My return date is uncertain; it may be a long time or it may be very soon."

He looked into the distance and said, "Go to the Cloud Sea Immortal Sect on Tianzhu Mountain and follow Tao Hongjing to cultivate. He will definitely teach you well."

Jiang Chuan realized that his master was about to leave and said anxiously, "Master, this journey is dangerous. I beg you not to take any risks!"

Xie Xuan smiled and shook his head, saying slowly and deliberately, "I will not admit defeat easily. There are some things that must be done."

He paused, then said, "I make a promise with you: we will meet again at Tianzhu Mountain in ten years." With that, he handed the manual to Jiang Chuan once more.

Jiang Chuan's eyes reddened slightly. He refused again and turned to leave quickly, his voice trembling with emotion: "Ten years later, your disciple will surely receive the Sword Emperor's inheritance with even greater strength, making Master's name shake the Nine Provinces once more!" (End of Chapter)