Bolts of lightning transformed into various spirit beasts, roaming back and forth across Qilizhayi's body. Hovering above his shoulders were several cyan-white lightning orbs, distorting karma around them with immense destructive power—yet he could not unleash an attack.
Qilizhayi had no idea what the large iron cage around Xuanyue was meant for; it looked exceedingly flimsy, as though it would break with a single strike.
Yet that was precisely where the problem lay: the old Daoist shielded in front of Xuanyue was actually draped in the seven-colored light of karmic virtue, more immortal than an actual immortal. If karmic virtue could be equated directly with immortal energy, this old Daoist's status would even surpass Qilizhayi's.
However, he was not an immortal. And lacking immortal status meant he had no immortal physique. Lacking an immortal physique was one thing, but the old Daoist's dharma physique was exceptionally frail—far more brittle than a normal Scenery Command dharma physique. In Qilizhayi's eyes, it was so fragile it seemed ready to shatter at the gentlest breath.
At this moment, in Qilizhayi's eyes, several large characters were practically written across the Daoist's face: *Touch me and I'll die!*
And Qilizhayi did not want to die just yet.
He had fought the Fourth Mountain for thousands of years and had finally seen the dawn of victory. He had agreed to spar with Xuanyue only to take the next step and obtain the world core. A single world core was hardly worth trading his life for.
Frozen in place, Qilizhayi could not unleash a single move. Nor did Xuanyue attack; instead, he stood inside the cage with hands clasped behind his back, sneering.
After facing off for a moment longer, Xuanyue finally spoke. "Since Fellow Daoist will not strike, I won't hold back."
Qilizhayi let out an immediate sigh of relief. Among the various races, the Mountain Folk physique was renowned for taking a beating, and a stone body held a natural advantage against lightning arts. He had resolved to parry without counterattacking; he absolutely could not damage Xuanyue's "armor."
Xuanyue wasted no time. Lightning energy surged within him, sending an arc of lightning climbing along the cables in his hand and flooding into the magic treasure dubbed the "transformer." In just a brief moment, the cables in Xuanyue's grip glowed red.
Qilizhayi was secretly astonished. Xuanyue was indeed extraordinary; his strike carried the momentum to shake the heavens. From this single bolt of lightning alone, ordinary immortals would never be able to hold their ground. Qilizhayi could still suppress such a strike, but he had to admit the gap between them was remarkably narrow. One had to remember that he had cultivated lightning arts for nearly ten thousand years, while Xuanyue had only just ascended to immortality. Yet once that bolt entered the "transformer," it emerged completely crimson, like flowing magma! The lightning whip turned searing red in an instant and disintegrated on the spot. In a single breath, Qilizhayi moved all the lightning orbs from his shoulders to intercept it, only for the bloody lightning to blast them to pieces with a deafening roar!
The colossal stone body seized up instantly as countless bloody arcs of lightning crawled across it. Fine stone shards chipped and flew in all directions—Qilizhayi was actually injured!
Qilizhayi could barely conceal his shock. As a veteran lightning cultivator, he had clearly gauged the initial power of Xuanyue's attack. It had been astonishing, but within reason—still a notch below his own. Yet the final force discharged was downright absurd, almost melting even an immortal-grade lightning whip. The total amount of lightning energy had remained the same, yet its power had multiplied several times over. If he took a few more blows like that, it would no longer be a matter of minor injuries.
Unable to counterattack, forced to take every hit head-on... Weighing his options, Qilizhayi finally said, "I concede."
Xuanyue smiled faintly, put away the melted transformer, and said, "Then I shall unworthily accept this Earth Mother Primordial Essence."
Seeing the transformer ruined, Qilizhayi briefly entertained the thought of making another move. But Xuanyue deliberately parted the opening of his storage bracelet, letting Qilizhayi glimpse piles of transformers stored within, finally putting out any lingering fighting spirit.
Qilizhayi said, "Fellow Daoist's whimsical notions are rare in this world; I am impressed. However, could you enlighten me as to the purpose of this iron cage and the principle behind this transformer?"
Xuanyue smiled faintly once more. "I cannot!"
His expression souring, Qilizhayi knew that staying any longer would only invite humiliation. With a heavy huff, he turned and left.
The numerous immortals lurking in the shadows had never anticipated such an outcome, lamenting that they had missed out on a good show. An obscure divine sense transmitted, "He's leaving just like that? Even this can be endured?"
Another obscure divine sense replied, "That fellow bears a grudge for every slight. Having suffered such a massive loss, how could he possibly let it drop? I hear Wei Yuan personally abducted his direct descendants, so this matter won't pass easily. If you ask me, he'll likely take his anger out on the Qingming forces inside the Domain of the Mountain Folk."
"The Qingming army is fighting a holy war under the banner of the Prophet faction. Isn't the Mountain Folk's First Immortal Ancestor a Prophet follower? Would he just sit idly by?"
"You're ill-informed! The Mountain Folk's First Mountain is indeed of the Prophet faction, as is the Fourth Mountain. However, the Second and Third belong to the Bloodline faction, as do the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth. Thus, among the Mountain Folk, the Bloodline faction actually holds the upper hand. They've wanted to topple the First Mountain from his throne for tens of thousands of years."
Another somewhat aged divine sense chimed in: "The Bloodline faction doesn't just hold the upper hand—in recent years, they have been pummeling the Prophet faction into the dust. They can't even wait for the First Mountain's lifespan to run out and have him perish; they want to directly undermine the mortal foundation of his spiritual status and drag him down from his seat. Think about it: what a tremendous historical trend this is! For Wei Yuan to launch a holy war at such a juncture and stand on the Prophet faction's side is nothing less than going against the heavens and courting disaster! With such shortsightedness, if he doesn't fail, justice has truly deserted the heavens!"
Multiple divine senses crisscrossed the void, chiming in with agreement.
An excited divine sense rose up, shrieking, "Well said! Let's see how that fellow cleans up this mess!" The outburst was so abrupt that the watching immortals exchanged bewildered glances, wondering who harbored such deep hatred for Wei Yuan. Surely they had suffered some humiliating loss at his hands that no one knew about?
————
In the Domain of the Mountain Folk, Wei Yuan stood at the prow of a floating skiff, looking down upon the great army rolling forward below.
Looking infuriated, Cui Yu said, "That brat Hule Gao'en had sinister intentions all along! The Mountain Folk's Bloodline faction clearly holds dominant power, yet he didn't utter a word about it! Now he wants to use our strength to prop up his own tribe—does he take us for fools?"
Xu Wenwu suggested, "Why don't we set up a Feast at Hongmen? Summon him over, slaughter him right at the table, and let him know the price of trifling with the Realm Lord!"
Wang Hu asked, "If we do that, what about his men? Won't that force them into rebellion?"
Xu Wenwu replied, "That's easy enough. Just find his son and pick one to succeed him, right? And let the son strike the final blow... Oh, he doesn't have a son? Then pick one of his generals! If we want good symbolism, bestow a human name on the general—call him 'Siming' or something—and this plan is bound to succeed."
Wang Hu frowned. "That simple? Will it work?"
"It will," Feng Tingyu, who had remained quiet until now, suddenly interjected.
Wang Hu eyed her figure and said, "Fine, you're smart, you call the shots."
Seeing his generals decide Hule Gao'en's fate in just a few words, Wei Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In particular, he feared those two brainless fellows might actually go and pull it off, so he hurried to say, "Hule Gao'en still has his uses."
Xu Wenwu argued, "I don't see much use in him, and he isn't honest either. The fellow has rebellion written all over him—the sooner we kill him, the sooner it's done."
Most of the others shared the same opinion.
Yet Wei Yuan knew the core grievance was that Hule Gao'en had concealed the Mountain Folk factions' true state of affairs, never mentioning that the Bloodline faction held overwhelming dominance, which had sparked displeasure among the Qingming cultivators.
Wei Yuan said, "The man is at least somewhat of a talent..."
Xu Wenwu countered immediately, "Right now his cultivation isn't even higher than a useless bum like me. What kind of talent is that?"
Cui Yu added, "Over the past few thousand years, the First Mountain's might has declined markedly, making it difficult to maintain his standing, whereas powerful Immortal Monarchs of the Bloodline faction have been springing up like bamboo shoots after rain. Tricking us into fighting the Bloodline faction under such circumstances is, bluntly speaking, using the lives of our soldiers to buy time for the Prophet faction!"
Wei Yuan pressed a hand down in a calming gesture. Once the cultivators quieted down, he said, "Before this holy war began, I had already scouted the internal situation among the Mountain Folk. I knew the First Mountain was faltering and the Prophet faction was in retreat. Naturally, I also knew the Mountain Folk along the border were predominantly aligned with the Prophet faction. That's why the early battles progressed like splitting bamboo, while it will only grow harder the further we go. Up ahead, we will reach the core territory of the Bloodline faction, and the bitter struggle is about to begin."
The cultivators' expressions softened considerably. Since Wei Yuan had prepared for this all along, it was no longer an issue. Wang Hu's mouth moved faster than his brain, blurting out, "See, that's what I said! The Realm Lord only ever schemes against others; how could anyone get the better of him? When it comes to being sinister and sly, our Realm Lord..." Fortunately, his brain caught up in time, and he clamped his mouth shut.
Feeling he still needed to explain things to everyone, Wei Yuan said, "Before marching in, I considered what kind of situation in the Domain of the Mountain Folk would be most advantageous to us. The answer was simple: fight a holy war, and keep fighting it indefinitely. Therefore, the Prophet faction was our only choice. Even without Hule Gao'en, I would have chosen another Prophet follower to push forward as our proxy."
Wang Hu instantly praised, "Just as I said, the Realm Lord is insidious..." Then his lips moved silently, producing no sound at all.
Xu Wenwu still insisted, "Even so, Hule Gao'en knew and didn't speak up, so he still harbored ill intent! Those who are not of our kind are bound to think differently! We'd better groom a few undercover pawns among his sons and generals early on."
This time, Wei Yuan nodded slowly.
Dark clouds gathered across the sky as vast expanses of heavy clouds rolled in from the depths of the Domain of the Mountain Folk. The wind began to howl, and a chilling aura of slaughter gradually filled heaven and earth.
The Qingming troops marching below responded immediately. Several small detachments split off to seize nearby mountain peaks while the main central army pressed onward, though they hoisted up gigantic iron cages towed along by transport wagons.
Above the vault of heaven, a speck of lightning suddenly flashed!
In a flash, that speck turned into a tumbling cataract of lightning pouring downward. By the time it reached the sky above the army, it was a surging deluge of lightning!
Yet as this immortal lightning descended, it seemed guided by some attraction, abruptly splitting into dozens of bolts, then splintering again into hundreds of slender arcs that struck the mobile iron cages, with a few guided toward the tall metal rods erected on the flanks of the peaks.
The surging current of lightning was divided hundreds of ways just like that, flowing along cables into specialized lightning-storage magical instruments, turned straight into military supplies.
Beholding this sight, Wei Yuan threw his head back and laughed heartily into the sky, his Dao heart unburdened and clear. All of this had been prepared years ago to counter his heavenly tribulations. But the Heavenly Dao had been crafty: when he asked for lightning, it sent fire; when he asked for fire, it brought rain; and when he prepared for everything, it threw a heavenly demon tribulation at him instead. In the end, not a single one of Wei Yuan's preparations had seen use—until today, when they finally proved their worth!
Wei Yuan's resounding laughter shook the land for a thousand li. He thought to himself: *If I can't handle the Heavenly Dao, do you think I can't even deal with a Fifth Mountain?*
Chapter 1475