"A Great Thunder Sound Cicada passing through?" Golden rays shot from Bai Meng's eyes as he stared fixedly at the streak of flowing light at the far edge of the horizon.
Few could master the *Divine Cicada Scripture*, but Bai Meng was one of them. Moreover, he had suffered a disastrous setback on this very path, leaving an indelible mark on his memory.
"Sis, he really looks like him!" Bai Meng blurted out, having a bit of a trauma response. Back in the Great Thunder Sound Temple, that black-robed youth with the small nose and small ears had not only snatched the Seven Treasures Pool from him, but had also cursed him as a pig, shattered his tall, handsome bridge of a nose, and even torn his plump, blessed ears.
Tang Yushang's crimson skirt snapped in the wind. Her cultivation was profound and unfathomable; with a mere shrinking of the earth to inches, she closed in swiftly on the traversing divine cicada.
"Gao—" she called out calmly.
Originally, she had intended to call out the four words "Unattainably High," but in an instant, she swallowed the rest.
Clad in black robes, Gao Chan flew with wide sleeves billowing, like a divine cicada soaring through the heavens across the night mist. With every leap off the ground, he vaulted a tremendous distance.
Hearing someone call out softly, he initially paid it little heed. A person of his status, once outside the earthen city, naturally had plenty of people currying favor with him.
Still, he instinctively looked back—and from that moment, his gaze was transfixed. Divine brilliance gleamed in his eyes. The woman was like the sun and moon traversing the sky; amidst the fluttering crimson skirt, she seemed like an immortal celestial crossing the void.
He was genuinely taken aback to encounter such a peerless beauty.
Many women could not pull off the presence of crimson robes, appearing overdone in heavy makeup and inevitably drawing criticism as common, vulgar vanity.
Yet this woman possessed an extraordinary temperament. A single crimson skirt gave off the regal elegance of a phoenix coronet and ceremonial robes. Her eyes were like droplets of black lacquer, and waist-length ebony hair danced in the wind—truly capable of overturning kingdoms.
Gao Chan halted abruptly and landed on the ground. The woman's demeanor was far too striking, utterly breathtaking. He immediately offered a brilliant, dazzling smile in response.
"What the hell? He actually... smiled!" The white beast grew somewhat incensed.
In the early night, the wilderness remained as pitch-black as an abyss, yet the area near Kunling City—where fiery springs flowed murmuringly—was bathed in soft light, as if steeped in ripples of moonlight.
Bai Meng was too far away to see clearly through the haze.
Like an exiled immortal crossing the night mist, Tang Yushang got a clear look at the features of the black-clad youth before her and knit her brows slightly, as if she had mistaken the person.
Then she recalled that on that day, both sides had merely engaged in spirit wandering, their conscious spiritual lights meeting. A careful verification was still needed.
"Fair fairy, have we met somewhere before?" Gao Chan, usually quiet and collected, was not quite so steady today. Stunned upon first seeing her, he was somewhat entranced as he gazed closely, feeling as though he had indeed seen her somewhere.
Tang Yushang's dark brows drew together slightly. Finding him rather greasy, a wave of distaste rose within her.
She hailed from a renowned Sacred Race; what sort of "blazing sun" had she not seen? Inheritors of Earth Immortals, prominent figures of top powerhouse clans—plenty of them sought to approach her. This youth's vulgar way of striking up a conversation was hardly endearing.
Eyes blazing with fury, Bai Meng rushed over. But once he saw the person's face clearly, he froze. It seemed they had found the wrong guy.
"Surname Gao, residing in Yujing?" Bai Meng attempted to ask in a temperate tone.
Gao Chan gave a faint smile. He knew it—they were trying to cozy up and curry favor with him. Still, for the sake of this crimson-clad woman, he would not treat them with cold detachment.
He gave a reserved nod and smiled faintly. "Yes, I hail from a city under the jurisdiction of Yujing."
"Have you mastered the legendary Sumeru field and Heavenly Demon force field?" Bai Meng asked.
Gao Chan felt that this fellow was quite skilled at playing along, possessing fine conversational tact that scratched right where he itched. Bringing up the domain he excelled in made him feel thoroughly comfortable.
Yet on the surface, he remained as breezy as light clouds and a gentle breeze. "Indeed. In this world, when speaking of the Sumeru field and Heavenly Demon force field, the source naturally lies with us."
Bai Meng felt that it was settled. Even if that small-nosed, small-eared "Unattainably High" from back then was not this man, he certainly came from the same lineage.
After all, the *Divine Cicada Scripture*, the Sumeru field, and the Heavenly Demon force field each had to belong to top-tier orthodoxies. For all of them to appear within a single sect meant they had almost certainly found the right doorstep.
Even if that brazen madman from back then was not this person, he had to hail from the faction behind him.
Gao Chan was dumbfounded. He never expected that after a radiant smile, the crimson-skirted woman would actually want to spar with him right here.
Tang Yushang found him greasy, so she was exceedingly sparing with her words.
Bai Meng, however, was more down-to-earth and did not immediately drop all pretense. He smiled and said, "My sister has spent the past half year researching the *Divine Cicada Scripture*, the Sumeru field, and the like, so she wishes to exchange pointers with you."
Gao Chan nodded. He felt this white-clad youth spoke quite well; the boy must have put in some effort to learn his background in order to get close to him.
He smiled freely and said, "Please."
Then, a thunderous crash exploded beside his ears. The crimson-clad woman raised a pale, slender hand, and a Great Thunder Sound Cicada materialized. Boundless bolts of lightning, dense and suffocating, rained down from the void, submerging where he stood.
Gao Chan badly wanted to ask: *You only wanted to approach me—do you really have to go this far?!*
The next instant, he could not utter a word.
His hair stood on end as he sensed immense danger. This woman of peerless grace was terrifyingly powerful to an eerie degree.
With every gesture, marvelous spectacles unfolded. She had practiced the *Divine Cicada Scripture* to an extraordinarily high level, and Dao rhyme flowed around her, distinctly augmenting the power of her divine art.
Gao Chan was shocked. This woman had to possess an immense background. Could she be a direct disciple of an Earth Immortal?
His body tightened as he went all out to counter her. With the slightest carelessness, he might be knocked flat and sustain severe injuries.
Gao Chan primarily practiced the arts of the immortal path. Now, pure yang light erupted from him, and simultaneously, the Sumeru field and Heavenly Demon force field expanded abruptly, overlapping to blur the surrounding void.
Around him, nine flying swords of different colors crossed the sky, forming a sword array that coordinated with the two great spirit fields. Resembling an inescapable celestial net, he was confident he could look down upon his peers.
However, Tang Yushang's might far surpassed his estimates. Just the manifested Great Thunder Sound Cicada was terrifying to the extreme. Its transparent cicada wings carried a river of lightning, as though diving down from the highest heavens.
With a booming crash, the cicada ripped open a corner of his spirit fields!
Gao Chan's mind shuddered. In a flash, he unleashed a hundred and twenty percent of his power. Within his spirit field, a majestic mountain materialized—the legendary Mount Sumeru emerged, followed by the descent of a Heavenly Demon!
Meanwhile, his nine flying swords formed a sword array. Coordinating with his spiritual light of the mind, a hazy immortal vista expanded outward, its killing intent surging skyward.
It had to be said that Gao Chan was extremely formidable. Having stepped into the fourth realm, he traded dozens of blows with the crimson-clad woman in the blink of an eye.
"You have a trick or two," Tang Yushang remarked.
Bai Meng watched the battlefield, realizing that this person was indeed exceptional and quite formidable, but he was likely not that person.
Gao Chan was expressionless, feeling rather displeased. Proud and arrogant by nature, he resented her looking down on him to pass judgment, especially with such lukewarm praise.
In an instant, he brought out all his methods, suddenly transforming into a four-faced form. Faces looked toward all four directions, each shooting up a beam of conscious spiritual light, causing his combat strength to skyrocket!
Hailing from an extraordinary background, he naturally commanded multiple sect-guarding scriptures.
This single technique was enough to drive many of his peers to despair. His combat prowess abruptly surged to four times what it had been moments ago. Facing an opponent of the same realm, what could he not break?
All at once, layered waves of spirit fields, along with Mount Sumeru and the Heavenly Demon, erupted with talismans, and the nine flying swords carrying the immortal vista expanded madly...
Tang Yushang shot into the sky, her slender figure dispersing the night mist. Her gaze was clear, her black hair fell like a waterfall, and not a single flaw could be found on her beautiful countenance. Surrounded by layers of divine halos, she appeared as if standing atop the highest heavens.
Gao Chan gave chase, thinking she was wary and avoiding his edge, not daring to confront him while his combat power was at its peak.
Yet the moment he surged upward, his chest tightened, and he was suppressed in his entirety. What kind of power was that?
Tang Yushang's crimson skirt fluttered. Around her, patches of golden divine lotuses blossomed, and with a casual wave of her hand, bizarre and wondrous spectacles manifested.
Like a celestial immortal perched high in the clouds, ten thousand phenomena arose between heaven and earth: meteorites, otherworld immortal fires, the Great Thunder Sound Temple, the Kunpeng—all manner of visions appeared, swirling like a nebula and crushing down upon her opponent.
*Pfft!* Gao Chan coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His four-faced form was shattered, Mount Sumeru snapped, the Heavenly Demon was torn apart by a Kunpeng, his nine flying swords tumbled into the Great Thunder Sound Temple, and the ringing of great bronze bells and drums blasted his immortal vista apart.
Furthermore, Tang Yushang's long leg swept through the night mist, a dainty foot treading out golden ripples that continuously struck his four-faced body.
Gao Chan went flying. Even confronting his opponent in his strongest state and deploying the four-faced form, he had suffered a crushing defeat. Though he still had other sect-guarding scriptures left unused, he knew he was definitely no match for this woman.
"Actually, I only wanted to ask you about someone," Tang Yushang said, shrouded in immortal mist, her robes fluttering as she landed on the ground.
Gao Chan's expression turned slightly chilly. *If you only wanted to ask about someone, did we really need to spar like this?!*
Instead of answering, he asked, "Just who are you two, and where do you come from?"
"Tang Yushang, from the distant Taixu domain," the crimson-robed woman openly informed him.
"Taixu?!" Gao Chan was stunned, his complexion shifting abruptly.
Coming from an extraordinary background, he naturally knew many secrets.
Yujing had once halted at many places, and the domains it radiated across were boundless.
In history, Yujing would occasionally truly descend into the world, merging into one with its projection on the ground.
Such a domain was generally known as a Heaven-chosen land!
Taixu was one of those Heaven-chosen lands!
He finally understood why she looked familiar when he first laid eyes on her. He truly had seen her portrait before; she was the most dazzling rising star of the Taixu Sacred Race.
Even in that city in the sky, someone had once appraised her, claiming that when the myriad stars traversed the sky, this Tang Yushang might become that bright moon.
To be precise, she was only one of the candidates to become that moon.
Even so, it was terrifying enough. Across the domains radiated by Yujing, where myriad stars shone, anyone with the potential to become a moon was peerlessly transcendent, likely possessing the caliber of a Heavenly Immortal.
As for becoming that brilliant blazing sun, such a candidate was definitely not a creature of the earth.
Though Gao Chan felt disgruntled inside, his expression was no longer cold. He sighed and said, "Fairy Tang, if you wanted to find someone, you should have just told me directly. Why go through all this?"
He admitted that when he first saw her beauty, his heart had fluttered slightly. Now, however, he was as calm as a sage, entirely stripped of those stray thoughts.
"The person you're looking for might not be a man; it could also be a woman. As far as I know, someone dual-cultivating both paths is skilled in all manner of arts. For instance, a woman named Jiang Ran has mastered various spirit fields."
He dialed up the difficulty for Tang Yushang. Some time ago, when the Great Dream Divine Mushrooms ran rampant and the earthen city's gates were blocked, he had lost to Jiang Ran.
Using immortal path methods to manifest the *Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic*, she had mimicked all kinds of spirit fields with pure yang conscious spiritual light, suppressing him until he had no temper left.
"There is another person who possesses the *Heart Subduing Classic*. Capable of myriad transformations, his true appearance is entirely unknown. He is also proficient in the *Divine Cicada Scripture* and can manifest multiple spirit fields..."
Gao Chan named another person. That individual had seemingly refined a mind monkey and possessed unfathomable strength, making Gao Chan deeply wary.
"There is also someone named Xiao Jinye. Even if his grandfather, the Old Barbarian God, is not a Heavenly God, he is at the Earth Immortal Great Perfection stage. His bloodline power is terrifying!"
...
Gao Chan listed several names in succession, genuinely hoping someone would give Tang Yushang a sound thrashing.
In truth, he was not a generous man.
He felt that getting injured out of nowhere today made him rather like an innate, Heaven-chosen scapegoat physique.
"How can I find them?" Tang Yushang asked. After beating Gao Chan up, her petty grievance and inner anger had largely subsided.
She had simply felt unwilling to let it go. Last time, she had simulated Bai Meng's spiritual field to enter the Great Thunder Sound Temple, unable to display her true strength at all.
However, when she remembered taking a kick to the buttocks at the very last moment and being booted out the gate of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, the peace that had just settled in her heart flared with anger once more.
"Just go wait in the earthen city. Sky City is about to open, and when the time comes, every extraordinary genius will rush over. In fact, even if you hadn't come over from Taixu, you would have heard the divine oracle in the near future."
...
In Kunling, a somewhat pale Gao Chan arrived. He entered Shanhe Academy quite smoothly and soon discovered his fiancée, Su Moran, strolling side by side with Qin Ming.
He felt that even practicing the *World-Abiding Scripture* until his long hair turned entirely the color of grass would not suffice to describe his current mood.
Normally, when Su Moran walked with him, her expression was never this gentle; she had always been exceedingly proud.
Yet right now, she was smiling radiantly at an outsider.
Qin Ming was hearing about Sky City for the first time, and Su Moran was clearly trying to win him over.
"If Yujing revives in the future, the upper limit of the newborn path might not remain sealed."
Such secret lore startled Qin Ming, touching him deeply.
Su Moran said, "Of course, a truly extraordinary talent, a dazzling blazing sun, might be able to unlock it on their own and shatter the heavenly barrier. However, it requires various harsh conditions—the right timing, geographical advantage, and harmony among people are all indispensable."
Qin Ming already knew that Su Moran came from that city in the sky and possessed a profound family background.
In the distance, Li Qingyue and Jiang Ran employed a special armament. A liquefied weapon adhered behind them, causing their divine senses to surge drastically and allowing them to intercept the duo's conversation.
"Your Dao companion seems quite popular. Even a noble daughter from Sky City regards him with high esteem," Jiang Ran teased with a smile.
Li Qingyue replied, "Didn't you say that you were my Dao companion?"
"Why did you come?" Su Moran noticed Gao Chan. In front of an outsider, she still gave him ample face; her expression was calm, devoid of any haughtiness.
Yet Gao Chan felt that her gaze was rather sharp.
Su Moran spoke again: "Right, you delve deeply into the scriptures of body cultivators on the immortal path and also study the ways of drudges. You should have the Sumeru field and Heavenly Demon force field in your collection, yes? Qin Ming practices Hunyuan force. Although he can manifest similar spirit fields, he also wants to reference those ancient texts and asked to borrow them from me just now."
*Damn it!* Gao Chan nearly blew his top. He felt coming here had been utterly redundant and wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave immediately!
...
The news that Sky City was about to appear exploded across Night Province, and the surrounding domains followed in an uproar.
Even Earth Immortal Daoist grounds attached great importance to this matter, to say nothing of other factions.
The domains radiated by Yujing were entirely restless.
Half a month later, Wu Yaozu and Xiang Yiwu appeared.
Xiao Wu said, "Brother Ming, are we going to Sky City? To take a stroll in the heavens and broaden our horizons! The earthen city has already started registrations!"
Xiang Yiwu said, "The patriarchs of the various paths are currently excavating a road leading to another realm. Rumor has it that they're playing for keeps this time and might explore a land of good fortune!"
They discussed in detail where they should go.
Qin Ming said, "Let's go to the earthen city first to see if we can attend to both."
Two days later, Qin Ming, Li Qingyue, Jiang Ran, Xiao Wu, and the others set off together toward the earthen city.
Along the way, they saw many people. Even geniuses who merely stood out within a single city were drawn here, eager to try their hand and see if they were qualified to enter that city in the sky.
On the road, someone said in a heavy voice, "Everyone, do you know why those from beyond the borders are rushing over like madmen? What is being contested this time is actually the future Heavenly Immortal fruit!"
Someone else whispered, "Yujing... the chosen of Heaven!"
Chapter 390