Elder Hao suddenly spoke up, causing Gong Wuji to raise an eyebrow. His tone was extremely displeased: "Elder Hao, what is it now?"
Elder Hao ignored him entirely, his eyes fixed on the sword in Gong Wuji's hand: "Dharma King Gong, is this sword yours?"
Gong Wuji, finding the question rude on top of the irritation he was already nursing, was thoroughly annoyed. He replied curtly: "Is it mine or not? What business is it of yours?"
Unexpectedly, Elder Hao's temper was even worse: "So you're saying the sword really is yours?"
Gong Wuji was so angry he actually laughed: "If it's not mine, could it be yours? Does it have your name written on it or something?"
Elder Hao stared fixedly at Gong Wuji: "So this sword—you really left it in the Red Cauldron Central Region?"
"So what if I did?" Gong Wuji assumed this elder was just looking for trouble. "Don't tell me you're going to claim it's yours? If I recall correctly, you don't even use a sword!"
Elder Hao nodded repeatedly, his expression growing uglier by the second. He kept shouting: "Good, good, good! So you admit this is your sword. You dare to own up to it—very well! Then dare you tell me where this sword came from?"
Gong Wuji had spent his entire life bullying others. He was always the one interrogating people—no one had ever dared to question him in such a tone.
Hearing this, he flew into a rage: "Where it came from? Where this sword of mine came from—do I need to report that to you? I got it from killing and robbing someone. What about it?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Elder Hao's face changed again. Then a look of "just as I expected" appeared on his face, filled with grief and fury.
In an instant, Elder Hao's hands grasped forward, and a fierce battle saber materialized in his grip. "Disciples of the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect, hear my command! This Gong Wuji is the murderer who killed our Nine Suns Heavenly Sect's true disciple Cao Jin. The Indestructible Heavenly Capital shares no sky with our Nine Suns Heavenly Sect!"
With that, Elder Hao slashed his saber viciously at Gong Wuji.
The strike surged forward like a rainbow. A powerful Emperor Realm aura swept outward, instantly blowing everyone within a thousand meters away. All bystanders were shoved hundreds of meters back in an instant.
Gong Wuji hadn't expected Elder Hao to attack on the spot. Enraged, he too reached out with both hands, and a golden ceremonial short axe appeared in his grasp.
The short axe swung horizontally, smashing hard into the razor-sharp arc of saber light.
Two mid-stage Emperor Realm powerhouses began fighting like madmen in the most bustling district of Tai'a City.
The others from both sects, seeing two top-tier experts clashing, naturally refused to be outdone and rushed into the fray.
In an instant, battle cries shook the heavens.
The two sects had always looked down on each other.
The Indestructible Heavenly Capital members believed the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect had deliberately come to undermine them, while the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect, upon learning that Cao Jin had been killed by Gong Wuji, naturally harbored deep hatred toward the Indestructible Heavenly Capital.
Both were first-rank sects—neither would bow to the other. Once the fighting began, it was utterly unstoppable. Even rogue cultivators nearby were caught in the crossfire.
The moment someone bled, the battle grew even more frantic. Soon, people began falling.
Then more and more went down.
Seeing blood, seeing more fall, the members of both sects went completely berserk. They lost all restraint, and the scene spiraled out of control in moments.
Those rogue cultivators, though they had retreated far away, still refused to leave. A battle between first-rank sects was something they normally never had the chance to witness.
Now that they finally had the rare opportunity—even though they had no idea what it was about—it did nothing to diminish their enthusiasm for watching the spectacle.
They even hoped the fighting would intensify further.
After all, rogue cultivators always harbored a certain hostility toward sects. That hostility was partly envy, partly jealous resentment.
In every respect, rogue cultivators could not compare to sect disciples. Sects controlled the vast majority of resources, sat high above everyone, and ordered rogue cultivators around...
All these reasons left rogue cultivators with no goodwill toward sects. Now seeing them tear into each other, the rogue cultivators were naturally delighted. A dog-eat-dog fight between sects was something they relished, wishing only that it would become even more savage, even more bloody.
Jiang Chen stood among the crowd, having already changed back into his original attire, leisurely playing the part of a spectator. Watching members of the Indestructible Heavenly Capital and the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect fall one after another, he felt nothing but satisfaction.
More and more fighters joined the fray. The Indestructible Heavenly Capital clearly held the advantage in numbers, but the ones the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect had brought this time were evidently all elites.
For the moment, though the battle was brutal, neither side had gained a decisive edge.
Jiang Chen shot Huang'er a glance. The two of them slipped away without further delay, heading toward the city gates.
At this point, many cautious rogue cultivators were already streaming toward the gates as well. Clearly, these people had realized that with Tai'a City in such chaos, it was best to leave as soon as possible.
Otherwise, they rogue cultivators would sooner or later be dragged into the mess.
These two first-rank sects had erupted into full-scale war without any apparent reason—and it couldn't possibly be as simple as a dispute over a sword. There were surely even more shocking undercurrents beneath the surface.
And so, any rogue cultivator with half a sense chose not to stay and become cannon fodder.