# 2003
Chapter 1987: The Sword Immortal's Ascension
The moment those words fell, a brilliant sword light tore through the void, like a scorching sun blazing in the sky, instantly illuminating the darkened heavens as bright as day!
Countless sword qi swept across the land, completely annihilating the sword scar abyss. The struggling mass of flesh and limbs was engulfed within it, and the remaining body dissolved like snow melting over a fire... Then came the earth, the sky, and even the heavens above.
This single sword light was visible even from the endless depths of space beyond Earth, as if a miniature star had been placed upon the planet's surface, radiating terrifying light and heat!
After a brief blazing moment, a sword trace burst forth from the brilliant point, streaking笔直 into the cosmos. Countless meteorites in its path were instantly crushed to dust, like an unstoppable cosmic sword, penetrating into infinity, as if witnessing a divine miracle!
At this moment, in the Northern Battlefield, no one could possibly perceive the full scope of this strike. All the people witnessed was a dazzling sword light slicing across the sky, followed by the terrifying aftermath that forced them to squint and brace themselves with all their strength just to remain standing.
Meanwhile, the black tide near the strike's trajectory was directly cleaved open, forming a curved gap, with hundreds of thousands of Black Goat offspring instantly vaporized!
As the surging sword qi aftermath gradually dissipated, the Black Goat's body had completely dissolved without a trace. Even the soil and stones where it once stood were gone, leaving only a bottomless mega crater that extended all the way to the planet's core...
"So strong... Is this really an attack a human can unleash??"
A Night Watch member bracing against the sword qi aftermath had terror written across their face!
"Do you think..." another Night Watch member spoke with a complex expression, "That was Zhou Ping, the Great Xia Sword Immortal... the strongest human to ever exist. His final strike in life will become a legend in human history."
That Night Watch member gazed at the sword qi that shot directly into the cosmos. Within the炽热的剑芒之间，一道黑衫身影正背对众生，身形一点点消失无踪...
望着那逐渐消失的身影，一股酸楚与怅然涌上众人心头……从Human Apex，到人类Supreme God，那个柄庇护了Great Xia十余年的最强之剑，终究还是到了永归天地的时候。
"Farewell, Great Xia Sword Immortal." Someone was the first to call out, and soon, more and more voices rang out from the three passes!
"Farewell, Great Xia Sword Immortal!"
"Farewell, Great Xia Sword Immortal!!!"
...
The calls of the many Night Watch members echoed through the clouds. On the outer wall of Jialin Pass, Guan Zai's eyes revealed a hint of bitterness.
He and Zhou Ping had known each other for over a decade. Back when Zhou Ping first ascended, he had already experienced that loss once. But this time, he knew clearly... Zhou Ping could never return.
"He has truly left..." Lu Wuwei walked over from beside the wall and sighed deeply.
"No." Guan Zai slowly spoke. "This chaotic, noisy mortal world can never contain a child's heart of colored glass... He has merely left our world of mortals to seek his own realm of red dust."
As if hearing the voices from the mortal realm, the black-robed figure within the sword light slightly turned his head... One last look at this world of mortals.
Then his figure completely vanished within the radiance.
Perhaps in some distant future, someone will inherit that strand of sword law and become a new Great Xia Sword Immortal... But the Red Dust Sword Immortal Zhou Ping has become an eternal legend.
The Key to the Gate had somehow retreated to dozens of miles away. He gazed into the distance at that terrifying crater, eyes narrowed.
"If he had gone all out to kill me and used the Gate of Truth's power, perhaps even I couldn't have blocked it... Unfortunately, he didn't take the bait."
He brushed the dust from his sleeves, turning his gaze away from the dissipating sword light, and once again looked upon this vast, boundless world... A slight smile crossed his face.
"However, from now on, no one in Great Xia can stand against me."
"Lin Qiye... You'd better hurry back, otherwise, by the time you return, Great Xia will have become a living hell..."
"I'll be waiting for you in hell."
...
In the endless depths of space.
Lin Qiye, who had been floating motionless in the void like a stone sculpture, suddenly opened his eyes!
His heart raced at an alarming speed, his eyes blood-red. His palm shot forward, as if gripping a blade to strike down someone, but ultimately froze in mid-air...
He stared at the emptiness before him, his heaving chest gradually settling back to calm.
After an unknown time, he let out a long sigh.
"The clone has died as well... I wonder if the teacher managed to kill the Black Goat?" Lin Qiye drifted alone in the cosmos, muttering to himself.
Now that his clone had perished, his sole connection to Great Xia was severed. He could no longer obtain any information. Had Chaos died? Had the teacher succeeded? Even if both had been eliminated, how were they supposed to handle the suddenly appearing Key to the Gate?
Previously, Great Xia had never anticipated that the Key to the Gate would descend so abruptly. In their original plan, as long as they could kill Chaos and the Black Goat, they could quickly mobilize forces to eliminate An Qingyu and cut off the Key to the Gate's only path to descend...
But who could have expected the Key to the Gate to arrive so quickly!
"Even if the Fate Monk and the teacher succeeded, there's no one in Great Xia capable of dealing with the Key to the Gate... Damn it!"
Lin Qiye surveyed the cosmos around him, his heart burning with anxiety. He had long since left the vicinity of the solar system. Honestly, he had no idea where he was now or how far from Earth, and even if he wanted to turn back to Earth to face the Key to the Gate, it would be far too late!
With the Key to the Gate's abilities, how long would it take to completely annihilate all human gods and apexes, destroy the Night Watch defenses, and wipe out Great Xia?
For a Pillar God, this was far too easy.
Knowing full well that Great Xia's current situation was dire, Lin Qiye could do nothing. The only thing he could do was continue advancing in this direction... but what lay ahead, he had no idea.
Lin Qiye took a deep breath, a resolute flash crossing his eyes. Regardless of whether his body could withstand Ame-no-Murakumo again, he once again activated the King's Hand and merged with it, his form breaking through the void, traversing across space!
Faster... faster!
The future of all humanity now rested in his hands. Every second wasted now pushed the Earth one step closer to destruction... He crazily tore through space one after another. When the King's Hand's time limit expired and they were forced to separate, his face had already turned as pale as paper.
"...Not enough. Again!"
Lin Qiye took a deep breath, once more unfurling the King's Hand, forcibly merging Ame-no-Murakumo with his body, and vanished in a flash...