"Luo Chen..."
"Master..."
"Father..."
Within Zhenhai Immortal City on Tiannan Continent.
From inside a silent chamber, muttered self-talk echoed from time to time.
The murmurs shifted, sometimes laced with longing, sometimes steeped in resentment.
A closer look revealed that the speaker was a middle-aged man.
He had rugged, austere features and an imposing countenance, naturally exuding immense nobility. A golden robe heightened his sovereign air.
He sat there, indifferent to whether endless ages had drifted past or mere moments had slipped away. He sat as immovable as a mountain, without the slightest restlessness—or perhaps he had long grown accustomed to such days.
Between his fingers, he caressed a magnificent, stately crown, genuine attachment gleaming in his eyes.
This crown was known as the Pingshan Crown!
It had once been worn by his royal father during his lifetime. After his father fell, it had passed through many hands before eventually coming into the possession of his master, Luo Chen.
And now, his master had bestowed the Pingshan Crown upon him.
In a sense, it was a return to its rightful owner.
Suddenly!
As if sensing something, the gold-robed man slowly lifted his head.
He looked outside, then silently yet with utmost gravity set the crown upon his head before rising to his feet.
***
Inside a great hall not far from that place.
*Buzz!*
A dull drone resonated through the hall, drawing the startled glances of every nearby cultivator.
When eight silhouettes materialized one after another upon the elevated teleportation dais, the cultivators guarding the teleportation hall erupted into an uproar.
"That's Fairy Qinglan!"
The first to be recognized was Fu Qinglan, who had visited Zhenhai Immortal City before.
Immediately afterward, most of the others were identified as well.
"The temple master of Tianyuan Daoist Temple from Tiannan Dao Palace!"
"The Hall Master of Ziwei Hall!"
"The Hall Master of Changsheng Hall!"
"The Hall Master of Zhongxing Hall!"
"And True Person Bu..."
Confronted by the shock of the cultivators below, Zhan Bingtao swept a cold gaze across the chamber, instantly reducing the entire hall to dead silence.
None of the onlookers dared even breathe loudly. They could not fathom why this assembly—the very peak of authority and martial might on Tiannan Continent—had all converged here.
Five Nascent Souls from the Dao Palace, plus three external Nascent Soul cultivators: True Person Bu, True Person Hu, and True Person Zhai.
What kind of upheaval could warrant mobilizing so many supreme masters?
*Whoosh!*
A gust of wind stirred, and a figure entered the hall.
"Have all of you arrived?"
Fairy Qinglan looked toward the newcomer—none other than True Person Wen, who oversaw Zhenhai City.
"Nearly everyone is here. A few others remain behind, but the current teleportation arrays across Tiannan Continent can support the transit of at most eight or nine people at once. What about your end?"
True Person Wen replied gravely, "I have kept constant watch over Dongyuan Continent. It has indeed fallen into ferocious warfare, with a vast host of external Nascent Soul experts invading. Had the temple master not issued a strict command, I would have rushed across to lend aid long ago. I simply don't know where those people originated."
Zhan Bingtao let out a scornful sneer edged with wrath. "Nothing more than clowns from the Eastern Desolation! Once we arrive with reinforcements, we will bury every last one of them. The temporary teleportation array I instructed you to prepare—is it ready?"
*From the Eastern Desolation?*
True Person Wen swallowed hard. Rumor held that back then, Monarch Qixia had hailed from Mount Cangwu in the Eastern Desolation.
He dared not dwell on the cataclysm of those bygone days.
Steeling his resolve, True Person Wen hurriedly answered, "It has already been set up. By drawing upon the power of the Ninefold Sea-Suppressing Sluice, it will allow us to span the ocean in an instant and teleport directly to Dongyuan Continent."
"Then let us begin!"
"You have only just teleported here from the Dao Palace. Will you not adjust your breath first?"
"Do you imagine the enemy will grant us time to adjust our breath?" Zhan Bingtao countered, the fury on his face intensifying. "Activate the sea-crossing teleportation array at once!"
True Person Wen nodded quickly, waved away the low-level cultivators, and retrieved a compass, placing it upon the existing teleportation array.
As the compass began to turn, a pulling force surged forth.
In the distance, the Ninefold Sea-Suppressing Sluice shuddered violently as waves of accumulated power were drawn out, converging toward the teleportation hall.
Zhan Bingtao and the other seven restrained their impatience, quietly waiting for True Person Wen to complete his work.
Ever since the Central Plains collapsed all those years ago, most of the teleportation arrays that once crisscrossed the land had been destroyed. Though various regions had rebuilt transit nodes in the aftermath, only a handful of places could truly support ultra-long-distance teleportation.
And Zhenhai City was the node nearest to Dongyuan Continent.
Amid this tense wait, the atmosphere grew increasingly stifling.
Suddenly!
Zhan Bingtao snapped his head up and roared, "Enemy attack!"
Without waiting for the others to react, he shot into the sky, his piercing battle intent bursting forth.
Yet—
*Clang!*
A brilliant, earth-shattering blade light cleaved down from the horizon, striking Zhan Bingtao straight back to where he had started.
The violent shockwave obliterated the teleportation hall in a single breath.
True Person Wen, who had been setting up the array and channeling the sluice's power, took the brunt of the backlash. With a wretched cry, he was flung into the distance.
No one had time to check on him. Their eyes snapped first to Zhan Bingtao, who had been hurled back down.
"This old man is unharmed!"
From within the dust and rubble, Zhan Bingtao's resonant voice rang out.
Only then did the crowd look up toward their assailant.
Framed against the ruined dome of the hall stood a golden silhouette. He wore an imperial crown and held a golden saber, radiating an unmatched, razor-sharp aura.
It was as if he were the very embodiment of sharpness itself, an existence meant to sever all things.
"Peak Nascent Soul!"
"Metal Origin!"
"He isn't human—he's a beast!"
"How could such a formidable being exist without me ever hearing of it?"
Though the intruder was formidable, he was alone.
Consequently, the Dao Palace cultivators felt little fear.
Fu Qinglan swept her divine sense across him, her beautiful eyes welling with deep perplexity.
*The aura on this demon is so complex, yet it feels so familiar... It's Master's aura. Why does he carry Master's aura? And there is another aura as well...*
Through the drifting dust, Zhan Bingtao strode forward step by step, dagger-axe in hand.
"Who are you? Why have you attacked us? Do you not know we are cultivators of the Tianyuan Dao Sect?"
Facing these questions, the gold-robed man slowly raised his saber aloft.
"I am Di Tu, servant of the Pill Patriarch, Luo Chen. None of you shall set foot on Dongyuan Continent today!"
Fu Qinglan's pupils constricted, and she instinctively glanced toward Zhan Bingtao.
He drew a deep breath. "No more words. We fight!"
Fu Qinglan gritted her teeth, sword in hand, and surged into the sky alongside Zhan Bingtao.
Besieged by eight powerful foes, Di Tu's expression never wavered.
"He promised that once this mission is accomplished, he will grant me my freedom. My sister is waiting for me, and my clan is waiting for me. Today, none of you shall cross this line!"
Murmuring to himself, Di Tu swung his long saber downward in the distance.
This strike was not aimed at any of the eight assailants. Instead, it struck True Person Wen, who was desperately trying to regulate his breath and could not react in time.
Facing an eight-man encirclement, Di Tu had unexpectedly struck out of nowhere to execute the helpless True Person Wen with a single blow. The sight stunned everyone present.
In the next instant, their eyes grew bloodshot with volcanic rage.
With True Person Wen dead, who among them could repair the teleportation array in time?
Zhan Bingtao bellowed, "Kill him!"
Di Tu raised his blade in silence.
"Come!"
***
In another direction from Dongyuan Continent, across the waters facing Libei Continent.
A bird circled persistently in the sky.
Suddenly, the bird froze, its eyes filling with horror.
A total of fifteen streaks of light soared out from Libei Continent, hurtling toward Dongyuan.
Three among them radiated a terrifyingly immense aura—unmistakably Great Cultivators of the late Nascent Soul stage!
*Master's prediction proved true after all. Once Dongyuan came under attack, powerful reinforcements would inevitably arrive from Libei Continent.*
*The North Sea demon race didn't do everything they could to stall the Libei cultivators at all.*
*No, I must warn the others!*
The white gull flapped her wings, preparing to turn back.
Yet before she had flown half the distance, two silhouettes appeared ahead, coming out to meet her.
"Fellow Daoist Tianxuan, have the Dao Sect's reinforcements arrived?"
Tianxuan transformed, assuming her tall, slender human form. Joy and wariness mingled in her eyes as she looked upon the newcomer.
"True Person Taiyue!"
Then she glanced back apprehensively. "Indeed they have, and in great numbers—fifteen in all."
Deng Taiyue murmured thoughtfully, "Fifteen, you say?"
Behind him, Shi Gandang muttered in a thick, heavy voice, "Master, the enemy is a bit numerous."
Deng Taiyue shook his head. "Though they are slightly more than expected, since I gave Luo Chen my word, I cannot simply turn tail and leave."
He beckoned with his hand, and Shi Gandang instantly understood.
An ochre-yellow radiance rippled over the spirit, wrapping around Deng Taiyue like clay to form an impregnable suit of heavy armor.
Beyond that, it condensed into a broad, massive greatsword.
Tianxuan stared blankly at the display.
*Shi Gandang is a rock spirit transformed into an essence?*
At this moment, Deng Taiyue revealed the full depth of his late Nascent Soul cultivation, manipulating the armor and greatsword with effortless ease.
Yet Tianxuan still voiced her worry. "Among those fifteen, three are Great Cultivators on par with your own cultivation realm!"
Deng Taiyue smiled faintly. "While I cannot match Fellow Daoist Luo Chen's feat of taking on the thirty-six eminent monks of the Hanging Temple all on his own, holding back a dozen or so people for a time should present no problem. Besides, I am not fighting alone."
"Shi Gandang?" Tianxuan asked, puzzled.
Deng Taiyue shook his head and shifted his gaze toward the nearby waters.
Across the previously calm sea, turbid waves suddenly rolled and churned.
A figure strode out of the ocean depths—a man with a shaved head, a white beard, and prayer beads draped around his neck.
Pressing his palms together, he nodded toward Deng Taiyue.
"Kongchan has arrived as promised. I trust I am not too late."
Deng Taiyue nodded in return.
One human and one demon might lack the strength to slaughter fifteen Dao Sect reinforcements, but delaying them should be well within their power.
"Fellow Daoist Tianxuan, go and deliver the word. Leave this place to us."
Tianxuan remained somewhat uneasy, but with Luo Chen's orders foremost in her mind, she dared not linger any longer and took flight in haste.
After she departed, Deng Taiyue and Kongchan stood their ground, waiting for the approaching foes.
Before the impending battle, there was still a moment of leisure.
The two exchanged casual remarks.
"Fellow Daoist hails from the North Sea? A demon cultivator at the ninth layer of Nascent Soul is rare indeed!"
"Though True Person Taiyue's cultivation realm is slightly lower, your dharmic power infused with Earth Origin is truly enviable."
"What are your thoughts on the coming clash?"
"What else can I think? This monk was coerced and can only brace himself to face it. Yet how is it that True Person Taiyue dared to guard this pass alone? What would you have done had this monk broken his word?"
"Haha! Since I made a promise beforehand, even if it meant braving a mountain of blades or a sea of flames, I would still have to walk it!"
As the two conversed, the fifteen streaks of light drew within sight.
Upon the vast, boundless sea, two silhouettes barred the path of the fifteen.
Without a word needed, the grand battle was about to erupt!
Right at that moment, high above the nine heavens, a streak of blood-red light plummeted from the sky, crashing like a thunderbolt into the midst of the fifteen cultivators.
Amidst a chorus of startled cries, the bloody glow expanded abruptly into an ocean of blood, while pitch-black demonic qi coalesced into hundreds upon thousands of spectral figures.
Kongchan's pupils shrank, and he gasped, "It's him!"
Deng Taiyue frowned. "Who is that?"
Kongchan hesitated, unsure of how best to describe the newcomer.
Was he the Mad Loose Cultivator? Or Master Fengling? Or perhaps a demon?
In the end, he simply explained, "A friend of Luo Chen's."
Deng Taiyue came to an understanding, then burst into hearty laughter. "As the saying goes, a just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust cause finds little! With so many friends aiding Luo Chen, how could the great undertaking fail? Let us join the fray as well—we cannot leave our fellow Daoist to fight alone!"
"Indeed!"
***
Across Dongyuan Continent, the fires of war raged fiercely.
In the two overlooked corners of Tiannan and Libei, perilous battles of interception played out as well.
Yet the battlefield that would truly decide the outcome existed in only one place!
Tiandi Island!
Especially after Luo Chen had seen through Liancheng's true design, he understood that whether the Central Plains was reunited into one, or whether the formation arrays in various places were shattered, was entirely inconsequential.
Those were merely superficial pretexts, convenient side endeavors.
The core of the Heavenly Vault Continent-Gathering Formation lay within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, resting upon the Lanke Chessboard held by the Chess Saint, Ke Lianshan. Because the two realms were separated, outsiders could not disrupt Ke Lianshan's actions in the slightest.
And the core of the God Descent Array lay atop Heaven and Earth Peak, held within the hands of Liancheng.
What Luo Chen needed to do first and foremost was stop the God Descent Array from completing, preventing that upper-realm True Monarch of terrifying killing intent from descending into the Mountain and Sea Realm!
He did not blame Li Canghai for fleeing before the battle.
Every man possessed his own philosophy for navigating the world. That Li Canghai had reached the Soul Formation realm might very well be owed to this very prudence—retreating the moment circumstances turned dire.
Yet Luo Chen could not do the same!
One could remain cautious in ordinary times, but at the critical juncture, one had to possess the courage to make a desperate stand.
"Luo Chen, run!"
Li Canghai's parting warning still echoed in his ears.
Yet Luo Chen pressed forward without looking back.
"I cannot leave!"
Enveloped in terrifying azure-white flames, Luo Chen followed the breach in the Heaven-Earth Severing Array that Li Canghai had opened earlier, charging directly into Heaven and Earth Peak.
The moment he entered, his breath caught in his throat.
That sensation of intimate connection with heaven and earth—which he had enjoyed ever since comprehending the true intent of the laws—was stripped away in an instant.
Even the heaven and earth origin qi seemed beyond his power to command.
*I must destroy this array!*
Luo Chen took a deep breath, then opened his mouth and spat.
Wither-Bloom True Fire took root the moment it touched the ground.
A flaming tree sprouted and grew, swelling in the span of a breath into a titanic timber that propped up heaven and earth.
The once-frail Wither-Bloom Fire, nurtured and refined through hundreds of years of Luo Chen's painstaking devotion, had finally matured into a towering giant tree.
At this moment, countless fiery branches, writhing like coiling dragons, climbed and spread along the dark yellow light barrier.
He intended to burn down the Heaven-Earth Severing Array by sheer force!
Still not enough!
It was still not enough!
The God Descent Array continued to function. Liancheng's figure flickered faintly within, shielded and cradled by that cloud-mist giant, forming an impassable boundary.
Luo Chen raised his gaze toward the summit, staring at that towering pillar of light piercing straight into the cosmic sea of stars.
He broke into a run.
The Heaven-Earth Severing Array was not yet fully incinerated, and within Heaven and Earth Peak, he could not command the heaven and earth origin qi.
Yet this array had ultimately been damaged by Monarch Qixia in the past; its might was incomplete.
Where it once could suppress every living creature within, it could no longer achieve total dominion.
And Luo Chen, beyond his profound dharmic power and command of origin qi, possessed a physical body that surpassed all his peers!
As Luo Chen sprinted, his frame ballooned with astonishing speed.
By the time he scaled the mountain peak, he stood nearly a thousand zhang tall.
Swinging a colossal hand, the titan threw a punch straight toward the God Descent Array.
Atop the mountain summit.
Watching this scene unfold, Liancheng's earlier contempt had long since vanished.
Though he could not easily move at this moment, he had made ample preparations just in case.
The surrounding clouds surged, and the pristine cloud-mist giant brought a massive palm crashing downward.
In that instant, the collision between palm and fist became the sole spectacle between heaven and earth.
*Boom!*
A thunderous crash roared in all directions.
The colossal shockwave shook the entire island, churning the boundless sea of clouds, and even the cosmic starlight seemed to dim.
At the foot of the mountain.
Hurled into the dust, the titan knelt on one knee, then raised his head once more.
Within his crimson pupils and golden eyes blazed a gaze of supreme ferocity, locked firmly onto the mountain peak.
"*Roar!*"
A beastlike roar erupted from his maw, and the titan leaped forward into a sprint once again.
Not only that, but a bizarre transformation rippled across his body.
Black armor flowed over him like quicksilver, covering his entire form.
His two arms split and multiplied into six.
Two additional heads sprouted from his shoulders.
Witnessing this, Liancheng felt a tremor run through his heart.
"Three Heads and Six Arms—a Buddhist divine ability!"
"Since you seek death, this seat shall grant your wish!"
"Go!"
With his sharp shout, that previously condensed giant began to struggle within the sea of clouds. Its body expanded, its arms lengthened, and pushing against the cloud sea, it sprouted legs and feet.
With a sudden bound, the cloud-mist giant leaped free of the sea of clouds.
Plummeting from the heavens, it clenched its fists and slammed down toward the black-armored titan.
In an instant, like meteors colliding with a continent, the two giants slammed together.
Chapter 1079