The Might of a Great Cultivator, Instant Kill!

On this day, before the boundary marker between the Tiandu and Tianji Domains, three figures stood apart. They gazed toward the battlefield ahead, where spiritual energy surged in turbulent waves and radiant light churned in midair. Each bore a solemn expression, their bodies wound tight in vigilance. "As expected, relying on thousands of years of accumulated foundation, the Tiandu Sect has managed to intercept the invading Demon Emperors. The battle is still raging!" "Shall we enter the array?" "There has been no sign of anyone from the Minyuan Sect. Entering the array now might be unwise." "Do you still remember what Tianduzi asked of us before we set out?" The last question came from Luo Chen. His words caused Jinling, previously the most confident among them, to furrow his brows. Without hesitation, Luo Chen took the lead and strode into the surging spiritual energy of the Tiandu Domain. "Since I gave my word to Tianduzi, I will not stand by and watch them perish. Come what may, I will do everything within my power." Fenghua Fairy drew a deep breath. The calm she had maintained over the past few days gave way once more to a fierce, murderous aura. "I will avenge my junior sister!" With that, eerie wind coiled around her fingertips. Amid a keening howl, the wind snapped taut, transforming with a sharp hum into a straight sword. The sword was pale green, and the woman moved like the wind, drifting gracefully into the domain. Jinling, trailing behind, twisted his lips into a self-mocking smile as a golden feather materialized in his hand. "Very well. I'd like to see for myself just what kind of vile, sinister thing it was that cowed my senior brother all those years ago and kept him from daring to act!" Shrouding his body in magic power, Jinling shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, hurtling into the Tiandu Domain. *** "Damnable fiends! If the Twelve Heavenly Fiend Flags of Doutian were still here, how could we let such monsters run rampant and unchecked?!" "Junior Brother, lament no more. The Twelve Heavenly Fiend Flags of Doutian possess immense power, but only a Great Cultivator can unleash them. Even if Senior Brother Tianduzi hadn't taken them along, we couldn't have activated them anyway." "Then what are we to do now? Ordinary slaughter arrays can't do a thing to that female demon!" "Our only recourse now is to contract our defenses, abandon the outer perimeter, and gather the spiritual energy of the entire domain to make a desperate stand at the mountain gate!" "Senior Brother Tianquan is entirely right!" Atop Mount Tianzhu, four Daoists sat in a circle with their legs crossed, each wearing a grave expression. Having settled on a plan, they hesitated no longer. They formed seals with their hands, and the spirit vein beneath them began to quiver violently. Across the entire Tiandu Domain, vast amounts of spiritual energy surged along the subterranean veins, converging continuously toward the Tiandu Sect's mountain gate. It moved with such blistering speed that the earth's veins trembled, as though an earthen dragon were rolling beneath the soil. Aboveground, the winds and clouds shifted wildly as immense quantities of spiritual energy gathered into mist, rolling and churning like a tidal wave crashing backward. Such an extraordinary method was far beyond the capability of ordinary Nascent Soul True Persons. Only the Tiandu Sect, through several millennia of deep cultivation and mastery over the land, could manipulate an entire domain's spiritual energy so freely. As the vast tide of spiritual energy was drawn away, the various arrays spanning the Tiandu Domain began to shatter and disperse one after another, deprived of their primary power source. Just as one of the formations was being dismantled, Tianquanzi, the foremost among the four, let out a soft exclamation of surprise. "There are unfamiliar Nascent Soul experts inside the array." One of his junior brothers showed a look of alarm. "Could there be more than seven Demon Emperors?" Tianquanzi shook his head. "Unlikely. Those are human cultivators. Calm yourselves, Junior Brothers; let me make contact and see!" With that, he formed hand seals, his lips moving as if carrying on a conversation across the void. A moment later, a look of joyful surprise surfaced on his face. "It's our fellow Daoists from Lingtian Pass coming to our aid!" "The one speaking with me is Luo Chen, the Alchemy Grandmaster!" "He wants us to tell them the enemy's numbers, their positions, and the methods they have revealed. Furthermore, he asked us to preserve a few formations to conceal their movements." "Our Tiandu Sect is saved!" *** Inside a remnant illusion array, Luo Chen kept his eyes half-closed while a man and a woman guarded him on either flank. Suddenly! *Whoosh!* Luo Chen snapped his eyes open, his pale golden gaze fixing directly upon a certain direction. "Did you make contact?" Fenghua Fairy asked anxiously. Luo Chen nodded. "I've established contact. Fellow Daoist Tianquan of the Tiandu Sect gave me a rough overview of the situation. Next..." Beside him, Jinling blinked, his eyes darkening slightly. Earlier in the Dieyun Domain, Luo Chen had already demonstrated a remarkably profound understanding of formation arrays. Now, right before their eyes, he had reversed the principles of the formation to converse across the void with a Nascent Soul True Person of the Tiandu Sect. Such mastery of array arts was far beyond merely 'knowing a little.' A Nascent Soul cultivator whose personal combat prowess was already terrifyingly formidable, who had cultivated a sprawling network of connections through transcendent alchemy, had now revealed formation attainments comparable to the grandmasters of the Tiandu Sect. *He has already grown into a formidable force of his own!* *And such an entity is an enemy Senior Brother has consistently sought to eliminate.* *If Senior Brother succeeds, all will be well. But should he fail, the inevitable backlash will bring utter catastrophe upon my Five Elements Divine Sect!* At the thought, Jinling lowered his eyelids, his expression growing even more somber. Seeing his bowed head and grim expression, Fenghua Fairy assumed he was dismayed by the intelligence regarding the enemy from the Tiandu Sect. Grand Commander Jinxiuxian was a late fourth-rank Great Demon Emperor! Of the six other unfamiliar Demon Emperors, three were in the mid fourth-rank. In their charge toward Mount Tianzhu, the strength they had displayed was by no means inferior to ordinary mid Nascent Soul cultivators. The remaining three had not yet engaged in battle, so their cultivation levels and combat prowess remained unknown. However, those three had been continuously probing for flaws in the formations and guiding the other Demon Emperors forward at high speed. Clearly, they were the ones skilled in array arts that Luo Chen had mentioned earlier! "This is going to be very troublesome," Fenghua Fairy murmured. Luo Chen, on the other hand, appeared completely at ease. "The Tiandu Sect is no ordinary sect. They have operated in this domain for thousands of years; it won't be breached so easily in the short term. If we coordinate well with them, we have every chance of emerging victorious!" Jinling lifted his eyelids slightly. "Coordinate how?" Luo Chen smiled with quiet confidence. "If neither of you minds, how about following my command?" Jinling and Fenghua exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Let's hear it!" *** The fierce battle in the Tiandu Domain had already raged for three days. From the very beginning, the situation had been completely one-sided. The seven Demon Emperors advanced unhindered, pressing directly toward the Tiandu Sect's headquarters centered around Mount Tianzhu. Along the way, formations of all sizes had triggered incessantly. Even knowing it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, the cultivators of the Tiandu Sect pushed the formations to their utmost, doing everything they could to impede the seven Demon Emperors. This was a moment of life and death. The four elders had already issued their decree: fight to the death and never retreat! In truth, their efforts had indeed managed to delay the Demon Emperors' advance. Each formation was led by a Golden Core cultivator, and backed by the abundant spiritual energy of an entire domain, the destructive power unleashed was not inferior to that of an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator. Even though the seven Demon Emperors had the three brothers skilled in dismantling arrays, breaking through still demanded magic power. Under such relentless attrition, the magic power of the other four led by Jinxiuxian was steadily worn down. By the fourth day, the seven Demon Emperors finally laid eyes upon Mount Tianzhu, soaring into the clouds. A gorgeous, mature woman clad in a magnificent palace gown gazed at the towering mountain peak while sensing the surrounding spiritual energy continuously converging toward the Tiandu Sect. She understood everything at once. "They plan to make an absolute, desperate stand!" Behind her, a grim-faced cultivator in white sneered. "Turtles trapped in a jar—where else can they hide?" Jinxiuxian smiled faintly and turned toward the three Demon Emperors whose appearances and garments were so strikingly identical that one could scarcely tell them apart. "Lu Changsheng, can you break the Tiandu Sect's mountain-protecting grand array?" From among the three, Lu Changsheng stepped forward. He gazed toward the distant light barrier, which rose and fell in layered waves like an undulating tide, dense and untamed as a primeval forest. A look of gravity crossed his face. "The array Dao practiced by us three brothers originates from the array tome bestowed by Lord Ditian. It comprehends the movement of celestial phenomena and discerns the flow of terrestrial qi. It is most effective at countering these massive formations constructed against mountains." "However, the Tiandu Sect is different. As the most preeminent formation sect in the human cultivation world, they have long established their own distinct school of art." "In particular, this mountain-protecting grand array safeguarding their sect not only weaves together celestial phenomena and earthly qi, but also incorporates the cycling of Yin and Yang and the principles of the Five Elements and the Bagua." "Breaching it will be no simple task!" Another burly man in yellow spoke up in a gruff, honest voice: "If it were easy, why would they have had us join forces? Just tell us straight: can you break it or not?" A troubled expression surfaced on Lu Changsheng's face. It was Jinxiuxian who spoke, sparing him further embarrassment. "There is no need to break it entirely. As long as you can locate its flaws as you did before, leave the rest to me." With this assurance, Lu Changsheng let out a quiet breath of relief. "An array of such immense scale must be interlocking in every part, leaving no room for the slightest error. Next, attack the grand array; that will give the three of us the chance to pinpoint the formation nodes. When the time comes, pull them out one by one. Under the chain reaction, the array will inevitably expose its vulnerabilities!" "Good!" Jinxiuxian praised him, her gaze sweeping over the other three demons. "From here on, everyone will follow the commands of the three Lu brothers!" The other three demons snorted softly, but offered no objection. Thereafter, under the direction of the three brothers, the three mid fourth-rank Demon Emperors began to launch strikes again and again to probe the grand array's responses. Jinxiuxian held back for the time being. *** *Boom!* A tremendous roar shook the air, followed by the heavy, rumbling thunder of thumping footsteps. From within the curtain of light, the man in white was forced back, his grim face dark with irritation, relentlessly pursued by a giant engulfed in raging flames. Lu Changsheng's voice rang out suddenly. "This is a fire array; there must be wood and earth arrays flanking it on the left and right." "Huangfengke, attack from above and draw out the water array!" "When water and fire clash, mutual interference will arise within the grand array!" The burly man in yellow hesitated not for a second, soaring into the sky and unleashing a billowing blast of yellow wind. As if provoked, an azure water flood dragon flew out from the array, thrashing its head and tail. The burly man in yellow did not linger to fight, likewise pulling back. The azure water flood dragon gave chase, one above and one below with the flaming giant. Under the mutual interference of their immense auras, both were noticeably weakened. Right at that moment, a golden great sword stretching a full thousand zhang soared into the sky. Lu Changsheng's command came again. "Qiansuo, counter hardness with softness; neutralize it!" Among the three demons, a black-robed figure who had yet to make a move blinked, heading straight toward that golden great sword. At the same time, the man in white and Huangfengke pivoted back together, entangling the flaming giant and the azure water flood dragon. The shimmering light barrier of the grand array began to shudder violently. A Bagua diagram slowly manifested from atop Mount Tianzhu. Seeing this, Lu Changsheng took a deep breath. "Commander, the rest depends on your methods. As long as you shatter this core array chart, the remaining formations will pose no threat." Jinxiuxian nodded and, with light, delicate steps, stepped bodily into the array. With her entrance, boundless demon qi surged like a tempest, causing the Bagua diagram to tremble wildly. Within Mount Tianzhu. The four Nascent Soul True Persons were drenched in sweat, their expressions filled with dread. The Tiandu Sect possessed three supreme formations! They were the Great Array of All-Heaven Stars that could seal the nine firmaments, the Twelve Heavenly Fiends of Doutian Array that reigned supreme in slaughter, and the Five Elements Bagua Array that possessed the utmost adaptability, perfectly combining offense and defense. Every one of these arrays carried exceedingly stringent deployment requirements. The Great Array of All-Heaven Stars required ten or more Nascent Soul cultivators acting in unison to establish. The Twelve Heavenly Fiends of Doutian Array required the twelve True Artifact-grade Heavenly Fiend Flags of Doutian as its core, along with a Great Cultivator presiding over it to be deployed. As for the Five Elements Bagua Array, reputed for its boundless transformations, every single facet had to be accounted for during its arrangement. At this moment, within the Tiandu Sect's mountain gate, over ten thousand low-tier cultivators sat at various formation nodes, pouring their full strength into driving the array's operation. Among them, the number of Golden Core cultivators had even surpassed a hundred! It was only through the combined efforts of these lower-tier cultivators that they could transmute the five elements and stubbornly hold off the three mid fourth-rank Demon Emperors. Backed by the spiritual energy of an entire domain's earth veins, they could hold out for a short while. According to their original design, the four elders, dividing their attention to unfurl the Bagua diagram, should have been enough to suppress the remaining four Demon Emperors. Yet no one had anticipated that Jinxiuxian's entrance alone would bear the weight of everything. Moreover, the boundless, peerless demon power surging within the Bagua array showed that the woman still had strength to spare, completely defying their suppression. "Is the gap between a Great Cultivator and us truly so vast?" an elder of the Tiandu Sect lamented with a bitter expression. Tianquan's gaze was heavy. "When Soul Formation grandmasters cannot easily intervene, a late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator stands at the very apex of this world. How could anyone underestimate them?" The prowess of a Great Cultivator had pushed the limits of mortal capability. They could only be matched by fellow Great Cultivators of the same rank! No amount of praise in this world could truly capture the terrifying might of a Great Cultivator. To take a simple example: how did one describe the sheer power of a top-tier Nascent Soul True Person? One needed only bestow upon them the descriptor 'comparable to a Great Cultivator,' and that alone said everything! Such had been the case with the Blood Hermit of the Northern Sea, with the Yin Hermit before stepping into the late Nascent Soul stage, and with Sovereign Jiuling of the Eastern Desolation. Yet that was merely 'comparable.' If forced into a true confrontation against a late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, they could usually do little more than barely preserve their own lives. The Blood Hermit had barely survived the pursuit of a Yuan Demon Sect Great Cultivator, and Sovereign Jiuling had suffered defeat at the hands of Demon Emperor Qingshuang—testaments to just how terrifying a genuine Great Cultivator truly was. Under Jinxiuxian's full display of might, even with the array multiplying their magic power tenfold or several dozen times, the four True Persons of the Tiandu Sect could not help but feel a creeping sense of helpless despair. As the strongest and highest-ranking among the four, Tianquanzi knew he could not allow this sentiment to spread any further. Steeling his resolve, he barked, "Fling open your Violet Palaces! Link your Nascent Souls to heaven and earth, push the Bagua array to its absolute limit, and do whatever it takes to pin Jinxiuxian down! We must create the opportunity for the Alchemy Grandmaster and his companions to defeat them one by one!" "Will they really come?" someone asked hesitantly. "If they don't, we die regardless!" Tianquanzi glared at him. His three junior brothers naturally understood the truth of this, and hesitated no longer. The barriers of their internal Violet Palaces parted abruptly, like the doors of an immortal cave swinging open. Pale, infant-like Nascent Souls crawled out from their celestial crowns, mirroring the posture of their physical bodies as they formed seals and chanted incantations. In an instant, magic power surged forth like a torrential deluge! Not only that, but the spiritual energy of the world drawn from all directions was forcefully seized and fused into the Bagua diagram. The Bagua diagram immediately spun wildly, conjuring dense, grayish mist that completely enveloped Jinxiuxian's graceful figure. Having done all this, Tianquanzi murmured under his breath, "Alchemy Grandmaster, do not let us down!" *** "Grand Commander!" Almost the moment Jinxiuxian was engulfed by the Bagua array diagram, the six demons outside took notice. Huangfengke even moved to abandon his opponent to rush to her aid. Before he could pull away, Lu Changsheng's voice came swiftly: "Now is the golden opportunity to shatter the array! You must not disengage under any circumstances!" Parrying the strikes of the azure water flood dragon, Huangfengke shouted back in anger, "You three brothers can afford to talk big! If anything happens to the Commander, even if we conquer the Eastern Desolation later, you'll be cast aside into some miserable backwater!" Lu Changsheng chuckled. "There is no need to worry. With Lady Jinxiuxian's strength, that array can only trap her, not kill her. Even trapping her won't last long. Besides, it's time for the three of us to act!" With that, he looked toward his two brothers. Exchanging a tacit glance, treasure light surfaced in the hands of each of the three demons. A compass, a bronze mirror, and a banner. "Enter the array!" Lu Changsheng commanded, preparing to lead the way inside. Yet in the very next instant, a premonition struck him, sending a jolt of pure terror through his heart. He whipped his head around, only to see three streaks of radiant light abruptly erupt from an empty stretch of void! "Not good—enemies!" The three streaks of light shot into the sky, their auras unmasked in their entirety, their massive fluctuations of magic power all at the mid Nascent Soul level. Wherever the light passed, the void detonated and the earth trembled. The three Lu brothers deployed their defenses without a second thought. Yet the three streaks of light were not aimed at them at all. They plunged directly into the formation, hurtling straight toward the man in white! The man in white sensed their approach, a look of panic surfacing on his grim face. Yet the flaming giant before him had no intention of letting him escape, heedlessly unleashing blazing flames to snare him fast. And right at that moment— *Skree!* A phoenix's cry pierced the heavens. A colossal fire phoenix unfurled radiant wings, sweeping down with a thunderous roar. *Whoosh...* It was as though someone had exhaled a breath of pure wind. A sudden tempest materialized, fusing with the fire phoenix, driving its flight even faster and stoking its flames to greater heights. Wind aided fire, and fire borrowed the wind's fury. The fire phoenix, already a hundred zhang across, swelled in an instant to a monstrous thousand zhang, its eyes gleaming with terrifying lifelike spirit. In a blinding swoop, swift as thunder and lightning, it crashed directly onto the man in white. *Boom!* Amid a deafening explosion, an agonizing howl tore through the air. The fire phoenix and the flaming giant detonated in rapid succession, submerging the white-robed Demon Emperor within an endless sea of roaring devastation. "Aaaaargh!" The beastly shriek of agony echoed across the wilderness as the explosions began to subside. Then, streaks of white light detached themselves from the mountain-protecting grand array, fleeing frantically in all directions. "Northwest—the weakest one!" A voice, chillingly detached and ruthless, rang out abruptly. A single golden feather struck out like lightning. *Pop!* Like a bubble being punctured, a horrifying surge of uncontrolled magic power erupted wildly into the surroundings. Jinling stood motionless in his golden robes amidst the blast, letting the aftershocks of the Demon Emperor's shattered Nascent Soul beat against his protective barrier, snapping his robes loudly in the wind. He glanced back. A man and a woman revealed their figures behind him—none other than Luo Chen and Fenghua.