The trailblazer of the immortal path and the forefather of the sun elven race naturally would not come to the South Heavenly Gate in person; they were currently drinking tea in the blessed land with the richest spiritual substance in the Dayu imperial capital.
With both patriarchs absent, the Grandmasters were the "heavens" on the moon.
Although the elderly sun elf had graying hair and slight wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, his facial features remained handsome overall, weathered only by the mellow maturity gathered across the years.
"Ling Canghai, do you wish to destroy the cordial friendship between our two races?" He was growing anxious, worried that something might happen to Liguang.
Grandmaster Ling Canghai gave a faint smile. "It is merely a sparring match between juniors. Why work yourself into such a temper over a trifle, old friend? Come, sit down and have a cup of tea."
He barred the way as immortal mist surged forward and scattered blossoms fluttered through the air. A jasper-stone table spread out before them, bearing delicate white porcelain cups thin as cicada wings, and the fragrant aroma of tea curled into the air.
Who has the mood to drink tea with you? The old sun elf felt like flipping the table.
Yet this immortal vista was woven of conscious spiritual light, and he could not shake it in the slightest for the moment.
"Dao brother, with the two of us standing right here, what could possibly go wrong? Come, taste the tea." Even though Ling Canghai was over two hundred years old, he remained graceful and as radiant as jade.
Small wonder his father-in-law had only been born when Ling Canghai was already a hundred and ninety.
Unsurprisingly, while the two Grandmasters appeared peaceful on the surface, they had already begun matching wits.
At the same time, a man's gentle voice sounded in Qin Ming's mind: "Little friend, she is likely of high elven royal blood. If you win, question her thoroughly on the truth behind the divine tombs and immortal graves, along with every detail, whether there are any issues, and the like. The more comprehensive, the better."
Qin Ming knew who was transmitting the message.
Ling Canghai had made no mention of the sun elven girl casting a secret text. If the youth were defeated and subdued on the spot, he could only blame his inferior skill.
Certain old fellows on the immortal path harbored genuinely dark intentions. Some had long wished to intervene and find a chance to probe the mental consciousness of a direct descendant of the sun elves, but had hesitated to act openly for fear that her forefather would turn hostile. Now they had a legitimate pretext, and someone to do the dirty work for them.
"My condition is fine!" Liguang secretly replied to the elven elder. Having reached this stage, her temper had flared, prompting her to take risks to the bitter end.
Most importantly, she had invoked a forbidden art spanning multiple domains, threatening to coalesce into a full territory. Riding this momentum, she went a step further and released that secret script.
The elven elder hesitated. Seeing how confident she was, he fell silent; he was usually a cautious sort, and with the Grandmaster blocking his way, he paused for the time being.
Ling Canghai said, "To be frank, I find it somewhat hard to stomach as well. It was meant to be a simple sparring match, yet your side directly unleashed such 'potent methods.' That is truly going too far. Do you think you can simply call a halt whenever you please? Come, Dao brother, share a cup of tea with me. I guarantee no harm will befall her."
Qin Ming noticed that many luminaries of the immortal path were watching with burning gazes, brimful of anticipation.
At the same time, from the chatter of the notables and nobles before the South Heavenly Gate, he learned the handsome old man's identity: a Grandmaster had stepped in to intervene.
Though he did not know all the details, being singled out by such a figure made him distinctly uneasy.
"I'm just a hired stand-in. Is there really any need to risk my life?" Qin Ming had no desire to get too deeply entangled.
In truth, he had already fulfilled his task admirably.
Yet the sun elven maiden opposite him was pouring all her strength into conjuring an inscrutable, remarkably vivid anomaly that grew increasingly perilous by the moment.
Qin Ming currently possessed the means to break spells, but he was reluctant to reveal his trump cards. Some of the old foxes on the immortal path were hardly benevolent souls; earning too much of their "favor" would not end well.
Having dodged aside, he spoke up in the nick of time: "That's about enough. We are only conducting a cordial and friendly sparring match. Are you really trying to fight a duel to the death?"
Who's being cordial with you? What Liguang wanted most of all was to bring him to heel.
Over among the sun elves, the onlookers were ready to explode. Cordial, my foot! Couldn't he see fire shooting from Guang Yu's eyes? Even his bald head was about to catch flame.
They thought to themselves: Don't you have any shame about what you've done?
The terrifying phenomenon around Liguang had "descended" in full, which was largely the result of Qin Ming's deliberate inaction. Had he moved to disrupt it earlier, he might have had a chance to succeed.
Throughout it all, he had merely kept his distance, occasionally raising a hand to fire bursts of heavenly light force. Though he had put on a show of "trying" to hinder her, his heart had not been in stopping it.
"This sun elven woman is far too strong. Even standing outside the field, my mind is being swayed. Just now, I nearly fell to my knees before that place."
Many young disciples of the immortal path were seized with trepidation, having already retreated far into the distance.
Even so, quite a few still felt dazed and disoriented.
Within the arena, Liguang's aura climbed to an entirely new peak.
She stood beneath a lush, flourishing Ancient Tree of Life. Around her, mountain flowers bloomed in brilliant profusion, dew hung from entwined vines, and a gentle brook trickled by, making it seem as though she had stepped into a vibrant pure land.
By now, her golden robe was tattered, but her red-gold inner armor remained intact. Her long golden hair gleamed like radiant silk, framing an exquisite face with deep violet eyes. Standing beneath the dripping-green divine tree, she carried the air of an enlightened cultivator poised to transcend the mortal world, indescribably ethereal and detached.
Yet it was all an illusion. The moment she launched her assault, an unfathomable power expanded outward, drawing muffled groans from many young disciples near the South Heavenly Gate.
At this moment, Liguang and the extraordinary vista around her moved in unison, hurtling forward at astonishing speed to strike at the youth in the arena.
The Ancient Tree of Life swayed, its rustling leaves chanting scriptures. Above it, black clouds churned, and a bleeding sun radiated a sinister, alluring glow. While Qin Ming remained unruffled in the arena, many young disciples outside clutched their heads, crying out in agony.
Beyond a doubt, the destructive might of this forbidden art surpassed all imagination.
Yet Qin Ming refused to meet the attack head-on, nearly teleporting as he moved. He was merely an expendable hired hand; since he had not bared his cards earlier, why would he throw his life away now?
Liguang was stunned. Earlier, this fellow had been reckless enough to charge straight through the dangerous area where the Sun and Moon Twin Wheels and the Dragon-Bird sacred baleful energy had detonated just to strike at her. Why was he retreating without a fight now?
After building up her momentum for so long to unleash a premier art of the immortal path, she was left striking thin air. What kind of absurd farce was this? Were all her pain and effort supposed to go to waste?
Liguang gave chase while dragging the forbidden immortal vista along with her, moving like a flash of floating light at an unbelievable pace.
The sight was thoroughly intimidating. Wherever she drew near the spectator stands, young disciples inevitably groaned, staggering backward with ashen faces.
They were cowed by the scriptures and suppressed by the sun; in the unseen depths, the ancient tree seemed linked to a divine realm, exuding an inscrutable pressure.
Qin Ming was not truly fleeing either; he fought as he retreated, engaging her in hit-and-run guerrilla tactics. He moved by manipulating five-phase qi, unleashing targeted counterattacks.
From time to time, he fired bursts of heavenly light force, aiming them all at the ground beneath Liguang's feet to blast through that fertile, vibrant soil.
Liguang's expression shifted slightly. His instincts were far too sharp, striking directly at her weak point.
The bleeding sun within the black mist was a double-edged sword; she relied entirely on the Ancient Tree of Life to sustain and shelter herself. Yet this monstrous fellow had already seen through the trick and was busy "loosening the soil" around the divine tree.
Her chest felt tight with frustration. She had built up an invincible momentum, yet her opponent refused to engage, dancing around solely to run out the clock.
A forbidden art of this caliber could not be maintained for long.
Crucially, the sparring grounds were far too vast. The area outside the South Heavenly Gate was immensely open, and every time her opponent slipped away, he dashed off into an entirely new patch of ground.
The luminaries of the immortal path watched with mixed feelings. Seeing that an immortal art of shared origin could suppress Qin Ming to the point where he dared not clash head-on, they could not help but nod in approval; yet at the same time, they still hoped he would secure an overwhelming victory.
"Here he comes again!"
The young disciples of the immortal path backed away time and again, only for Qin Ming to loop around in circles, dragging his trouble right to their doorstep so they could share in his suffering and taste the soul-crushing pressure.
Gritting her teeth, Liguang made the Ancient Tree of Life blaze with light. Green radiance surged toward the heavens, ripping through the night mist and detonating an incomparable wave of energy.
Then, bearing the sinister sun within the black mist, the tree completely detached from her and descended to suppress Qin Ming.
Floating right before her brow was a single glowing sheet of parchment, woven from talismans and inscribed with cryptic glyphs. It was the immortal contract capable of subjugating drudges.
"It can even lock on?" Qin Ming was taken aback as well.
He dodged continuously, moving so fast it was akin to teleportation, yet the wondrous vista clung to him relentlessly. It brought an unfathomable pressure that cracked the earth, warped the void, and evaporated the night mist, leaving him feeling as if his body were about to be torn apart and his spiritual field were on the verge of exploding.
Liguang did not appear to be having an easy time either, her face deathly pale as she drove the immortal vista forward.
At the same time, she sprang forward on her long legs, closing in at full speed. Before her brow, dense characters flowed from the glowing immortal contract.
She stood ready to cast it at any second and slap the "sheet of light" onto her opponent.
Shielding himself with heavenly light force, Qin Ming fought back with all his might, trying to shake off the suppression of the Ancient Tree of Life and the sun.
Yet no matter how he teleported, the wondrous vista remained entangled with him, threatening to swallow him whole and pull him toward the eerie sun shrouded in black mist.
His head throbbed with splitting pain. There was definitely something profoundly wrong with that blood-red sun.
"Haha, your time has finally come! Let's see where you can run now—what, can you fly up to the heavens?" Over on the alien side, the group of sun elves finally felt they could vent their pent-up fury.
Then, their jaws dropped in disbelief: Qin Ming truly took to the sky.
Mounting the massive Azure Dragon sacred baleful energy, Qin Ming soared upward, roaming amidst the torn-open night mist.
"This..." The sun elf who had shouted felt like slapping himself across the mouth.
Fuming with resentment, Liguang did everything in her power to lift the vista upward, pursuing him into the night sky.
In truth, Qin Ming began falling almost immediately; he could only linger in the air for a brief moment, unable to genuinely achieve true flight through this method.
He tried to ride the bright-red Vermilion Bird into the sky, but failed this time around. Thoroughly locked on by the terrifying vista, he was dragged down by sheer force.
"Oh no!" many cried out in alarm.
"Ah, before the Vermilion Bird sacred baleful energy was gifted to him, its origin had already been damaged. That flaw is showing itself now. If he attempts to trace back yin and yang in the future, it may very well cause an imbalance," an elder of the immortal path remarked calmly, audible only to the surrounding luminaries.
In their view, with time pressing that day, Qin Ming naturally had not found any legendary heterogeneous substance to nourish the Vermilion Bird.
At this moment, Qin Ming was bearing unprecedented pressure, his expression turning thoroughly grave. He had chosen to take a gamble; he absolutely could not afford to capsize here.
Every leaf on the Ancient Tree of Life seemed inscribed with profound scripture, rustling and turning. In an instant, thousands of radiant streaks of light cascaded down like countless immortal arts showering upon him.
Qin Ming's body was enveloped by the Five Elements Light Wheel to withstand the manifested scriptures. Moreover, he wielded a five-color saber, frantically digging at the tree's roots.
Liguang turned pale. It seemed she could not remain separated from the wondrous vista for long, and as the roots of the great tree of life were being excavated, her body swayed and stumbled.
Qin Ming felt as though he were shouldering a mountain, enduring an unimaginable burden. Yet the moment he caught sight of her state, his spirits surged, and he began digging like a madman.
He felt that loosening the earth beneath the divine tree of life was no different from uprooting Liguang's very foundation.
Suddenly, his hair stood on end. Even as he endured the dense barrage of immortal arts swaying down from the ancient tree, he narrowly evaded the taint of a falling drop of fresh blood.
As it fell, the void rumbled and quivered, seemingly distorting.
It came from that sun. Just what was its origin?
"That is... an immortal!" Grandmaster Ling Canghai exclaimed.
Just then, the bloodless Liguang charged over, her golden hair fluttering and her graceful figure swaying slightly as she tried to force her way back into the wondrous vista.
"Get out of here!" Qin Ming blasted his heavenly light force outward, barring her from entering.
In the distance, the group of sun elves was struck dumb. He was taking over the nest of another bird!
Qin Ming would rather shoulder the mountain-like pressure himself than let her step back into this immortal vista.
Liguang decisively cast the "sheet of light" floating before her brow. Instantly, countless characters materialized across the void, forming what resembled a ritual connecting her to Qin Ming.
"The immortal contract is formed," Ling Canghai said calmly. Reaching this point, the ritual had officially taken effect.
Chapter 285