"Fall back!"
Amidst Luo Chen's shock, Miao Wen did not hesitate for a second, pulling back in an explosive retreat.
Not only him, but Luo Tianhong made the exact same move.
Naturally, Luo Chen could not afford to lag behind. Combining Carefree Wind Riding with his Cloud Treading Boots, he burst forth with maximum speed.
Almost in lockstep, the three of them withdrew tens of li away.
Miao Wen cast a surprised glance at him.
*Not good!*
Luo Chen's heart gave a jolt. In his haste just now, he had unleashed his full speed.
One had to remember that both Miao Wen and Luo Tianhong were sword cultivators.
Though they had not yet attained the Golden Core realm's speed of transforming sword light into a rainbow, their escape velocity was renowned among their peers.
At full speed, Luo Chen was only a single step behind two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
No wonder Miao Wen looked at him like that.
Just as Luo Chen cursed inwardly, a deafening roar rolled in from the distance.
A monstrous sound wave surged, shocking Luo Chen until his face turned pale. In a dizzy daze, he began to plummet.
It was only when a gentle strand of spiritual power caught him that he snapped back to his senses, lingering fear gripping his heart.
A cold voice sounded by his ear.
"Look out for yourself!"
Luo Chen nodded gratefully to Luo Tianhong. It was this man who had noticed his predicament and lent a helping hand.
Otherwise, falling from a height of a thousand meters would have left even someone with Luo Chen's physique severely injured.
"Hmph!"
Miao Wen snorted coldly. "Fall back even farther. If the shockwaves of a Golden Core battle spread this way, the two of us won't necessarily be able to protect you."
"Besides, from this far away, without releasing your spiritual sense, you won't be able to see anything anyway."
Luo Chen gritted his teeth and flew to a spot about a li behind the two.
This distance was safe enough.
The center of the battlefield was over by the Lancang River, tens of li away.
Even if the aftermath of the battle rippled outward, two Foundation Establishment True Cultivators stood in front of him, giving Luo Chen plenty of time to react.
Just to be safe, however, he still summoned the Four Symbols Cauldron.
Four-colored tassels draped down from the cauldron, shielding him securely.
His actions naturally did not escape the notice of Miao Wen and Luo Tianhong.
Evidently, though, their attention was not on him. Their gazes were fixed grimly in the distance.
Once Luo Chen had made his preparations, he took a deep breath and looked toward the vast surface of the Lancang River.
Who said he couldn't see anything?
His Spirit Eye Art had reached Great Perfection just a few days ago, allowing him to see clearly even across a hundred li.
It was only dusk, and visibility had not deteriorated to complete darkness.
Under his watchful gaze...
The golden light dispersed, and the waves settled into a gentle roll.
Clad in a grand crimson robe, Pang Renxiong stood aloft in the high heavens, looking down at the river's surface.
"You rat, roll out here!"
At his fierce shout, layer upon layer of the river's surface erupted with explosive booms.
A faint sigh drifted eerily from within the boundless surging waves.
Completely unaffected by the din, it carried clearly through the air.
"Fellow Daoist Pang, why must you push things to such bitter extremes?"
The next instant, two beams of light—one black, one white—carried a weathered figure as he slowly ascended from the bottom of the Lancang River.
Seeing those two beams of black and white light, Pang Renxiong snorted coldly.
"Lanke Chess Pieces!"
"As expected, it was you who personally stepped in to kill Mi Shuhua."
Shrouded in a black robe, the figure let out a bitter chuckle. "He was merely a rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator. How was he worth such elaborate effort on your part?"
However, Pang Renxiong shook his head.
"He was not my target."
"Mi Shuhua was merely bait, meant to hook the mastermind who framed and smeared my Jade Cauldron Sword Sect."
"Let me ask you: did you kill Fei Baiwen of Mount Ailao?"
The black-robed cultivator froze, then decisively denied it.
"I have no past grievances or recent enmities with Mount Ailao. Why would I kill him?"
"Your word means nothing. Return with me to the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect to undergo investigation."
At these words, anger flared within the black-robed cultivator.
"Aren't you taking your bullying too far? This old man is merely an unaffiliated cultivator. If I truly go to your Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, wouldn't I be at your mercy to knead as you please?"
"You have no choice!"
"Heh, then I'd like to see what ability you have to leave me without a choice."
Evidently, this person was not someone willing to let others walk all over him.
The moment his words fell, purple-gold chakrams burst forth from behind him. At first glance, there were hundreds of them.
The Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel!
This person possessed profound magic power; with a single strike, he unleashed the full might of the magic treasure.
It was far beyond anything a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Mi Shuhua could ever compare to.
Faced with this strike, disdain surfaced on Pang Renxiong's face. He opened his mouth and spat.
A sword pellet darted out, instantly transforming into myriad beams of sword light that engulfed the hundreds of spinning chakrams.
Violent clashes erupted in non-stop explosions.
As vast magic power spilled outward, the Lancang River surged in turbulent waves.
Tens of li away, Luo Chen watched the battle with a shaken heart.
*Is this the power commanded by a Golden Core cultivator?*
Merely a probing clash had thrown the great river into upheaval.
As magic power surged, deadly peril blanketed an area ten li wide.
If they chose to strike at him, even across tens of li, it would take no more than a single thought!
Suddenly, his ears twitched.
"It seems there's no mistake. This black-robed Golden Core was the one who secretly acted to kill Mi Shuhua."
"Mm. I was the one who sold that Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel at the auction back then, and the buyer was indeed Mi Shuhua. Furthermore, that defensive magic treasure, the black and white Lanke Chess Pieces, was the Dao-protecting treasure of Ghost Spirit Valley's Supreme Elder in the past."
"Junior Brother, those Lanke Chess Pieces should have come from the Guyuan Mountain Range ruins, right? Back then, acting on orders, I commissioned the Mountain Breaker Gang to track them down, and they did find the true ruins. But when Elder Pang entered, he took most of the relics. Why didn't he take these magic treasures as well?"
"Something had to be left behind, or how else could we lure out such a big fish?"
Miao Wen's puzzled voice came again.
"Why were you so certain this black-robed Golden Core would be tempted by these treasures?"
"That was Elder Pang's deduction."
Luo Tianhong spoke flatly, "According to Elder Pang's assessment, the attacker who ambushed Fei Baiwen had his sights set on Mount Ailao's defensive magic treasure—Fanlong."
"However, Fanlong seals against the outside as well as the inside. Before dying, Fei Baiwen activated it, leaving the attacker no choice but to return empty-handed."
"Later, Elder Pang took most of the resources from the ruins of Ghost Spirit Valley's Supreme Elder, leaving behind only the Lanke Chess Pieces and the Demon Locking Pagoda. Both carry defensive attributes, so they would naturally draw that rat's greed."
Miao Wen came to a sudden realization. He had not known much about such secrets.
After all, he was merely an outer sect deacon, whereas Luo Tianhong was different.
Luo Tianhong was a true disciple of the sect at the Foundation Establishment stage, highly valued by the higher-ups.
An elder of immense authority like Pang Renxiong favored him greatly, so he naturally would not conceal such inconsequential matters from him.
"Looking at it now, this black-robed Golden Core must have killed Fei Baiwen and framed our Jade Cauldron Sword Sect."
Miao Wen scoffed, "It is pitiful how stubbornly he refuses to admit it, even with death at his door."
Luo Tianhong shook his head. "Being stubborn is to be expected. Admitting it carries consequences he cannot bear. Of course, before our Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, whether he admits it or not no longer matters."
Indeed, it no longer mattered.
Luo Chen could clearly see that Pang Renxiong was growing impatient, wielding his sword pellet with ever-increasing ferocity.
The bifurcated sword light no longer numbered in the thousands or tens of thousands; it had multiplied into an immeasurable, dense swarm.
Under such an assault, the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel teetered on the brink of collapse. No matter how many chakrams it generated, they were annihilated in an instant.
The sword lights that could not be dodged struck his body, sending the black and white chess pieces spinning wildly around him.
*Is this the sword cultivator reputed to break all arts with a single sword?*
*Using nothing more than a single sword pellet, without deploying any other techniques, he has backed a fellow Golden Core into dire straits.*
Luo Chen felt boundless envy. Focusing entirely on a single sword—no wonder sword cultivators were reputed to possess the greatest combat strength among peers of the same realm.
Still, if that man dared to defy a Jade Cauldron sword cultivator, he surely had more than just this up his sleeve, right?
Just as Luo Chen was speculating, a shrill roar echoed along the banks of the Lancang River.
"You sect cultivators bully people too far!"
The next moment, a small pagoda flew from the black-robed cultivator's hand.
The small pagoda exuded an ancient, primitive aura; one glance was enough to tell it was an ancient magic treasure of great age.
As his magic power poured into it, the small pagoda swelled against the wind.
Ten zhang!
Twenty zhang!
In the blink of an eye, it surpassed the thirty-zhang height that Mi Shuhua had exerted all his strength to achieve back then.
And the transformation did not stop there.
Forty!
Fifty!
One hundred zhang!
A colossal pagoda standing a hundred zhang tall settled upon the river's surface like a pillar supporting the heavens.
The black-robed Golden Core took a deep breath, recalled the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel, and flicked both hands outward.
*Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!*
*Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!*
Scores of thick black chains shot forth from the pagoda like flood dragons and pythons.
Everywhere they passed, sword light crumbled abruptly.
With an unstoppable momentum, they encircled a five-li radius around Pang Renxiong in the blink of an eye.
A profound aura of suppression and sealing locked down that stretch of the sky.
Pang Renxiong's expression shifted slightly. A sword pellet hovered and danced around him, splitting into countless beams of sword light that desperately severed the black chains one by one.
Yet the situation continued to deteriorate.
Every time he severed a chain, it cost hundreds of sword lights.
With that pagoda present, the black chains seemed endless.
Seeing this, the black-robed cultivator could not help but laugh heartily.
"This is one of the three great sect-guarding treasures of Ghost Spirit Valley!"
"It contains the Eighteen Earthly Fiends within, and is arrayed with the Nine Great Formations on the outside—the absolute peak of high-grade magic treasures!"
"In ancient times, it locked away countless demons. Today, this old man shall suppress and slay a Jade Cauldron sword cultivator!"
...
Tens of li away, Luo Chen understood.
This treasure had to be the Demon Locking Pagoda mentioned by Miao Wen on the way here.
Its might was domineering indeed.
Even a sword pellet renowned for its sharpness was powerless to resist under the sealing power of those black chains.
No wonder this person had the confidence to challenge Pang Renxiong.
Thinking about it this way, Mi Shuhua had truly been played for a fool from the very beginning.
The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect had made him expend massive manpower and resources from the Mountain Breaker Gang to search for the Golden Core ruins, used him as bait, and in the end didn't even bother to save him—they had treated him as nothing more than a pawn.
*No, given Mi Shuhua's personality, he probably understood the situation full well.*
*With such heavy treasures before him, he surely wanted to take a gamble. And in fact, he really did seize the greatest share of resources from the ruins.*
*Perhaps there was even an opportunity related to forming a core inside.*
*He just never anticipated that, on top of being besieged by five Foundation Establishment cultivators, a Golden Core Master would secretly make a move against him.*
Having thought through the reasons, Luo Chen could not help feeling a wave of sorrow.
Partly for Mi Shuhua, but also for himself.
Mi Shuhua had been reduced to a pawn for a Golden Core Master, just as Luo Chen had constantly been tossed between the hands of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Sect cultivators looked down on rogue cultivators from the bottom of their hearts!
Amidst this sorrow, Luo Chen's mood darkened as he watched the battle unfold.
This black-robed Golden Core claimed to be a mere rogue cultivator.
Yet having reached the Golden Core stage, how could he truly be without roots or backing?
If nothing else, colluding with five Foundation Establishment cultivators meant he represented a faction.
The most likely candidate was the Lianyun Merchant Alliance.
That power spanned dozens of market towns and held twenty to thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators within its ranks.
Having a Golden Core cultivator overseeing it was only natural.
Even if he was not of the leadership, he would at least be a consecrated elder.
*Perhaps the Demon Locking Pagoda isn't even his final trump card!*
While Luo Chen was speculating, the two in front of him, Miao Wen and Luo Tianhong, were also conversing.
Miao Wen's voice carried a hint of anxiety.
"Elder Pang specializes in the Great Geng Sword Scripture, which cannot exert its maximum power over a great river. What should we do now that he's at a disadvantage?"
Yet Luo Tianhong remained calm, unhurried and composed.
"No need to worry. Elder Pang simply hasn't fought in a long time, so he's just toying with him for a bit."
"Uh..."
"Still, his senior self has probably toyed enough!"
Hearing this exchange from behind, Luo Chen was taken aback.
*They've fought to this extent, and it's still just toying with him?*
*Pang Renxiong better not play himself into a corner.*
With a slight stir of will, Luo Chen channeled more spiritual power into his eyes, allowing him to see even more clearly.
Beneath the afterglow of the setting sun, the Lancang River roiled amidst surging magic power, as if brought to a boil by raging flames.
The chains extending from that colossal pagoda had multiplied densely, closing in to within a hundred meters of Pang Renxiong.
At this moment, the Jade Cauldron sword cultivator had no road to heaven and no door to the earth.
Once ensnared, the only outcome was being suppressed!
Yet facing such danger, Pang Renxiong merely sneered.
"You've held the Demon Locking Pagoda for so long, yet you've only refined it to this extent?"
The black-robed Golden Core was neither angry nor flustered, replying calmly, "This extent is already enough to suppress and kill you. Besides, this old man has more tricks than just this..."
Before his words finished, a golden sword pellet spat from his mouth, transforming into a streak of golden light that shot straight toward the very center of the black chains.
"Today, I shall pay you back in your own coin."
"I will make you sword cultivators die beneath a sword pellet!"
The moment that golden sword pellet appeared, Pang Renxiong could no longer contain the fury in his heart.
"It truly was you who framed us!"
Amidst his furious roar, he suddenly clenched his hands in the air.
The sword light warding off the chains instantly dissipated.
At the same time, his own sword pellet transformed into a greatsword, dropping into his hands.
The next instant, he leaped forward and slashed!
A boundless beam of sword light pierced the clouds and split the sun, sundering all the chains.
Not only that, but with its residual might unabated, the sword light hundreds of zhang long crashed down toward the black-robed cultivator.
The incoming golden sword pellet, before it could even unleash its power, was struck down into the riverbed.
Faced with this earth-shattering strike, the black-robed cultivator's expression changed drastically.
The black and white chess pieces transformed into two great dragons, shielding him resolutely.
The Demon Locking Pagoda launched eighteen blasts of earthly fiend qi, trying again and again to whittle down that terrifying slash.
Alas, all these efforts proved futile.
Before the sword light, the so-called earthly fiend qi melted away like white snow meeting the blazing sun.
*Boom!*
A deafening roar echoed across thousands of li.
Even tens of li away, protected by the Four Symbols Cauldron, Luo Chen was shaken until he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He immediately covered his ears.
Furthermore, he tapped several acupoints on his body in rapid succession, barely managing to endure the shock.
When he freed his hands and looked, the scene before him left him dumbfounded.
The Lancang River was severed!
To be precise, the rushing waters of the great river had ceased their flow.
Not only had the flow stopped, but the river, thousands of meters wide, was completely drained of water, exposing a colossal riverbed.
Silt, intermingled with the blood mist and corpses of various fish and aquatic demon beasts, coated the riverbed.
Vast clouds of mist enveloped the area, resembling a dreamlike lake shrouded in clouds.
"Is he dead?"
Luo Chen's mouth hung open. His spiritual-light-filled eyes darted frantically, searching for the black-robed cultivator.
"He's not dead!"
As the river waters surged forward once more, a black pagoda—shrunk tenfold to a height of merely ten zhang—drifted forlornly amidst the clouds of mist.
Immediately after, a battered figure emerged from behind the pagoda.
The terror in his eyes gradually faded. He swallowed hard, then burst into arrogant laughter.
"Nothing more than this!"
"Nothing more than this!"
"The so-called Geng gold sword pellet's power is nothing more than this! This old man didn't die!"
Faced with this arrogant laughter, Pang Renxiong in the distance merely wore a mocking smirk.
He reached out his hand, clenching at empty air before the black-robed cultivator's bewildered gaze.
"That isn't how you use the Demon Locking Pagoda."
"Watch closely!"
The black-robed cultivator's expression changed dramatically as he subconsciously looked toward the black pagoda before him.
A somewhat illusory golden chain shot out from the pagoda's tip like a serpent flicking its tongue.
*Chii!*
In merely a flash, it pierced into his body with the speed of thunder.
As the golden chain rattled backward, it dragged a two-toned, dark-yellow Golden Core out, locked securely within the black pagoda.
"My Golden Core!"
The shrill cry was filled with utter despair.
Yet what greeted him was a wisp of sword light.
The black-robed cultivator was dead!
With a cold laugh, Pang Renxiong stepped atop the black pagoda and used his magic power to sweep back the two chess pieces spinning in midair.
Moreover, he reached out with his hand.
From the riverbed newly covered by rushing waters, a dimmed sword pellet flew up.
Looking at this sword pellet, which had attained the level of a magic treasure, Pang Renxiong knitted his brows tightly, paying no further mind even to the black-robed cultivator's corpse.
"Congratulations to the elder on slaying a mighty enemy!"
"The elder's might is formidable!"
Luo Chen stood on the newly devastated riverbank, looking up at the three above with awe.
Facing the congratulations of his sect's two Foundation Establishment cultivators, Pang Renxiong merely shook his head.
"A sword pellet at the magic treasure level can only be nurtured by our sect's Golden Core sword cultivators. The sword remains while the person lives; who knows which fellow disciple has fallen out in the world."
Hearing these words, Miao Wen and Luo Tianhong were both startled.
Luo Tianhong said incredulously, "In recent years, among our sect's Golden Core elders traveling outside, there were only those three!"
"Dao Child Ren Pingsheng, Elder Bo Yijian, and Xiao Shu!" Pang Renxiong sighed, speaking with a sliver of wishful hope. "I only hope it wasn't them, but rather a sword pellet this person obtained from an outside domain!"
Hearing those three names, even Miao Wen felt his heart tremble.
If any one of those three died out in the world, the moment news traveled back, an uproar would erupt within the sect.
Especially Ren Pingsheng, hailed as the foremost among Golden Cores!
He was the Dao Child with the greatest hope of ascending to the Nascent Soul realm in the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect!
Stowing the sword pellet away, Pang Renxiong glanced at the additional magic treasures.
"I had previously tampered with the Demon Locking Pagoda in secret, which was how I caught him off guard and grievously wounded him. I will take this treasure back to the sect."
"This Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel shall be awarded to Miao Wen."
"And these Lanke Chess Pieces are yours, Tianhong!"
With a casual wave of his hand, those two magic treasures flew before the two men.
Luo Tianhong was stunned, then flushed with immense delight.
Although Jade Cauldron sword cultivators were rumored to cultivate only a single sword, in truth that applied only to cultivators of the Golden Core realm and above.
Before the sword pellet within their bodies was nurtured to the magic treasure level, low-tier cultivators of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect mostly chose one or two artifacts or magic treasures for self-defense.
Of course, their primary offensive means remained flying swords and sword pellets.
Compared to the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel, these Lanke Chess Pieces, being defensive magic treasures, suited Luo Tianhong perfectly.
In particular, this treasure was of an exceptionally high grade, having served as the Dao-protecting treasure of Ghost Spirit Valley's Supreme Elder in the past.
The reason the black-robed cultivator had survived earlier, aside from relying on the Demon Locking Pagoda's body to block Pang Renxiong's Geng gold sword pellet strike, was also thanks to these Lanke Chess Pieces.
Miao Wen cast an envious, even jealous look at Luo Tianhong, then accepted the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel with uncontrollable joy.
Although he had little personal use for this treasure, taking it out to sell would fetch at least tens of thousands of spirit stones.
If placed on auction, it might even fetch a high price of eighty thousand spirit stones, just like back then.
Down on the ground, Luo Chen was also deeply envious.
Though this Pang Renxiong was domineering, he was truly generous.
Two magic treasures, bestowed just like that.
While he was feeling envious, a sharp gaze suddenly fell upon him.
"Danchenzi—Luo Chen, isn't it?"
Chapter 156