The Great-Clarity Dao-Realm Sword has already achieved the level of a Sword Domain, which sets it apart from the thirty-two forms of sword-Dao that came before.
The first thirty-two layers of sword-Dao were still just techniques for entering the Dao, but the Great-Clarity Dao-Realm Sword steps into the territory of the Sword Domain—a field akin to a Supreme Divine Sense Domain, and thus called a Sword Domain.
Yet the Sword Domain remains fundamentally different from the Supreme Divine Sense Domain.
The Supreme Divine Sense Domain is focused on the influence of divine sense over external reality. Entering such a domain, everything gradually falls still—a visualization taken to its utmost extreme.
But the Pioneer Emperor’s Sword Domain is all about attack—the purest edge of the sword.
To Quinn Shepherd, the Great-Clarity Dao-Realm Sword is already nearly incomprehensible, impossible to fully grasp. Yet above this layer, there is still another, which makes Quinn’s scalp crawl.
At last, the Pioneer Emperor unleashes the thirty-fourth layer—the Upper-Clarity Sword Domain. As this sword erupts, the entire Kaihuang Heaven Court nearly boils over.
Old ministers from the Pioneer Era are swept up in tears, their voices merging into a flood as they call out Ye Greenwood Keane’s name. The fervor surges like a deluge, sweeping even the newborn gods and demons of Carefree Haven into a frenzy of worship for the Pioneer Emperor.
Their chanting resembles the ancient Creators worshiping the Taichu Emperor—so fevered, so mad, so utterly irrational.
Hansen Keane and his wife frown slightly, watching the crowd lose all reason. This kind of fanaticism is something they have never encountered before, and it unsettles them.
Elena Cloud also frowned, deeply unsettled by the scene.
She had never seen the Pioneer Emperor wield the Upper-Clarity Sword Domain before; it must be a sword art he created after taking charge of Carefree Haven. But that’s not the real issue.
The real issue is that both the Pioneer Emperor’s old ministers and the new generation of gods and demons now treat him as an omnipotent deity. As he and Quinn Shepherd duel, both unleashing the Thirty-Three-Heaven Sword Dao, the old ministers’ spirits are reawakened by the sword-Dao’s underlying ideals—as if they’ve returned to their era of glory.
But the situation is far more complicated than she expected.
Ye Greenwood Keane was not born as the Pioneer Emperor. He became the era’s leader through countless battles and life-and-death struggles against his enemies.
Over time, his legend grew and grew, until he became the symbol and backbone of an entire era.
By the end of the Pioneer Era, even the old ministers saw him as unbeatable, omnipotent, and supremely wise—never daring to question any decision he made.
This is why, after entering Carefree Haven, the old ministers suddenly lost their spirit—and why the Pioneer Emperor’s reforms ultimately failed.
They erected a god in their Dao-hearts, and that god was the Pioneer Emperor. He became their faith.
When the Pioneer Emperor’s image collapsed, so did their faith—leaving them in despair and decay for twenty thousand years.
Now, the Thirty-Three-Heaven Sword Dao seems to be dragging them back into that era of blind worship.
Elena Cloud’s heart was in turmoil. To rebuild the Pioneer Emperor as the god in everyone’s heart—this was a disaster waiting to happen!
Quinn Shepherd used the Thirty-Three-Heaven Sword Dao to awaken the old ministers’ withered Dao-hearts in Carefree Haven, which was a good thing. Elena Cloud even gave up her plan to have Quinn beat the Pioneer Emperor bloody for shock effect.
But the Pioneer Emperor’s charisma is too overwhelming. To tie an entire era’s spirit to just one person is to repeat the same mistake all over again!
"The Pioneer Emperor must lose—"
A vein bulged on her forehead as she clenched her teeth. Right now, she almost missed the Woodcutter Sage, thinking, "If only the Woodcutter were here, he’d surely have a way to stop this! Too bad that bastard swore never to enter Carefree Haven…"
The Pioneer Era was never the story of just one person, and the Pioneer Emperor’s reforms were never the work of just one man.
Yet now, history is repeating itself—and she’s powerless to stop it.
The Upper-Clarity Sword Domain displayed its astonishing, nearly invincible power before everyone. Quinn Shepherd fought back with all his might, but in the face of this sword-Dao domain, he seemed utterly defenseless.
In the blink of an eye, his body was covered in wounds.