Both sides were on the martial stage now. Ziqing stared at the seven with nothing but disdain in her eyes.

“You fled successfully last time but that won’t happen again. I will cut off your dog heads today!” Ziqing asserted.

The group didn’t respond and slowly formed a formation. Though they needed to run for their lives during the last battle and nearly died in the process, they managed to restrain their anger despite the taunting. 

They knew about the power gap so being angry wouldn’t accomplish anything right now. Staying calm and defeating Ziqing would be the retort to her insults.

Of course, the spectators viewed their silence as paralyzing fear.

“They’re only here to die.” One expert said and didn’t think anything of the formation.

They believed that formations weren’t enough to overcome the obvious difference in cultivation.

“Alright, ready up.” Pinnacle Sword Saint played his role: “No rules for combat since it is a fight to the death. The only restriction is no involvement from outsiders even in the case of defeat, any objection?”

“None here, but Mountguard can come help all the way, our Central Sacred Ground won’t mind at all. Come one, kill one, come two, kill two. The more, the better.” Ziqing stared arrogantly at Li Qiye.

She was no longer afraid of him since they came prepared. Mountguard’s experts would only be heading towards their death. Moreover, it would give Central Sacred Ground more reasons to attack Mountguard.

“No objection here.” The seven said in unison.

“Good, then I formally announce the start of the battle that won’t end till death!” The sword saint sonorously announced.

“Clank!” Ziqing summoned a sword with strings of imperial light oozing out along with various laws. They engulfed her entire body.

“The sword of a True Emperor!” People sighed with envy after seeing this. Even a fool could tell the level of this weapon, though not the exact emperor it originated from.

It was truly enviable for a young disciple to have an imperial weapon. Only the successor or highly valued disciples in a sect had this privilege.

After all, one sect or kingdom might have hundreds of thousands to several million disciples. Thus, only a selected few had access to them.

Zhou Ziqing wasn’t qualified to have one based on her status as a disciple alone. An imperial sword was far more precious compared to an Eternal weapon. Furthermore, Central Sacred Ground had numerous disciples more brilliant than her.

However, she was the maid of their saintess on top of being a key part of this crucial mission. Thus, her lady gave her this sword so that she could swiftly kill the seven to avoid potential complications.

“Take out your scrap metals. I will kill all of you within ten moves.” She declared with contempt.

Ziqing was stronger than her opponents and this imperial sword only made her more confident - killing these ants would be too easy.

“No, just three to five moves will do.” One expert shook his head and said: “The disciples from Mountguard have nothing to stop that sword. It will cut through their treasures like slicing tofu.”

“Right, I don’t think Mountguard will have any worthwhile treasures. They have declined for too long, probably used up all of their resources long ago.” No one thought highly of the seven.

“Clank! Clank! Clank! Boom!...” Weapons were summoned in a loud manner. One could even hear an explosion as the seven quietly did their thing.

Massive energies manifested in the sky and engulfed the area with divine lights.

“Eternal weapons! And imperial weapons too!” The crowd became astounded and stared at them in disbelief.

Not only were these weapons mighty, but they also seemed to be one with their user. The two entities emitted a dao resonation as if they have been tempered together. 

This wasn’t the case for Zhou Ziqing. Her imperial weapon had no harmony with her. Everyone could see that she has only gotten it recently.

She was inferior in this aspect compared to the seven. Jiahui’s group was banished into deep space by Li Qiye.

Though only five days have passed outside, they have spent five years with their weapons in there, resulting in this state of oneness.

“Right, our weapons are scrap metals indeed.” The young Ruoxi couldn’t help but sneer.

They were annoyed by her prior comments despite not showing it on their expression. In their mind, beating Ziqing was the best possible retort.

Ziqing’s face became hot after hearing this. She was proud to possess one imperial weapon but these seven mustered up the same type too. This was akin to slapping her on the face.

“Since when did Mountguard have so many powerful treasures?!” The crowd was shocked.

Remember, experts from the last generation might not have them, but each of these juniors had one right now.

How could the disciples of a third-rate sect have these weapons? Everyone became jealous as a result.

“I can’t believe that they still have so many resources after a long period of decline.” Many ancestors showed greed in their eyes.

Everyone knew not to show off wealth since that could cause trouble. Alas, no one would have these ideas if the seven were from Eight Trigrams or Central Sacred Ground. For example, no one thought about taking the imperial sword from Ziqing.

However, this wasn’t the case for Mountguard. The first reaction for many experts was to think about how to destroy Mountguard and take everything there.

“So what if you have imperial weapons?!” Ziqing’s embarrassment turned into fury: “They’re still scrap metals when used by the likes of you! They’ll all be mine soon enough after I kill you, thanks for bringing them here!”

“Miss Zhou, let us begin.” Li Jiankun challenged.

He acted quite cool like a First Brother should be - a good role model for his peers. They were furious right now and wanted nothing more than to kill Ziqing.

“I’ll kill you first then!” Ziqing’s eyes were fierce.

“Buzz.” Jiahui’s group activated their Seven Stars Hidden Formation. Runes and shiny flashes appeared around them.

They didn’t underestimate their enemy despite having so many mighty weapons, aware of the power gap. The recent training has improved them even more. Their effort certainly didn’t go to waste.