A sun rose in the dead of night.
This wondrous spectacle drew every living creature in the Congyun Sea who was not yet asleep to look upward.
At that very moment, an aged voice resounded from the vault of heaven.
Like thunder, it swept across the Congyun Sea in an instant.
"Since you sought this old man's aid, I shall lend you a hand. As for whether you succeed, that will depend entirely on your own fortune!"
Bathed in the blazing sunlight, the anima of Heaven and Earth—Crimson Flame—which normally could not be perceived by ordinary sight, now distinctly revealed its form.
"What is... that?"
Compared to that brilliant sun illuminating the Congyun Sea, this crimson figure was extremely tiny.
Yet the gaze of every cultivator was drawn to it against their will.
Greedy desire surged from their hearts.
Their reason vanished. Cultivators hurled themselves toward Crimson Flame in the sky like moths to a flame.
Yet before they could even draw near, their entire bodies were reduced to ashes by the blazing heat.
Scattered death visions erupted across the sky like fireworks, one after another.
Wanxian Island had already fallen into complete chaos.
"It's an anima of Heaven and Earth! That is an anima of Heaven and Earth, which allows you to integrate with the Dao if you consume it!"
Countless cultivators' eyes turned bloodshot as they muttered madly under their breath.
In the blink of an eye, cultivators blinded by desire flew toward the sky as though possessed.
Yet the moment their altitude surpassed the statue of the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable, ten thousand beams of white light shot forth in unison from the various statues in the Dharma Transmission Plaza, blasting these overstepping fools to pieces.
Above Wanxian Island, all manner of distinct death visions materialized in an instant.
Yet even the terror of death could not stop the cultivators' greed.
White light flashed continuously, claiming at least several lives with every flare.
Through the eyes of his clone, Li Fan was also stunned by the cruel, breathtaking spectacle before him.
Although he had witnessed an anima of Heaven and Earth more than once and knew its fatal temptation to cultivators, only when this scene unfolded right before his eyes did Li Fan realize he had still vastly underestimated its allure.
Fierce, fearless, throwing themselves forward in endless waves.
In just the blink of an eye, at least a hundred cultivators had lost their lives to it.
Moreover, the anima's magnetic pull continued to mount.
Even those cultivators who bitterly held on to their true nature were on the verge of breaking.
Right at this moment, a rainbow-hued barrier surged outward from the central core of Wanxian Island.
In an instant, it enveloped the entire island.
Seven-colored light swirled and shifted, slightly obstructing the cultivators' direct gaze toward Crimson Flame.
Like looking through a sheer veil, though they could still clearly observe everything taking place high in the sky, the desire welling in their hearts finally began to recede.
"The Seven-Colored Immortal-Felling Formation..." Li Fan stared at the barrier. Before he could ponder any further, his attention was once more drawn toward the sky above.
On Wanxian Island, the shaken cultivators who had just escaped catastrophe did not even have time to talk among themselves before their minds were captured again.
The anima of Heaven and Earth, Crimson Flame.
It seemed that the moment it descended into the world, it was illuminated by the great sun above.
After all this time, its form had finally condensed completely.
Ignoring the suicidal ants below, it raised its head to look at that sun blazing in the night.
Flames abruptly erupted across its body, and it was just about to make a move.
Yet suddenly, across the firmament, a brilliant galaxy composed of countless twinkling starlights silently emerged.
Under the marvelous phenomenon of stars and sun shining together, the silvery starlight and blazing sunlight intertwined.
They seemed to form a cage, trapping Crimson Flame within.
"The waters of the Lancang River come down from Heaven!"
Wild, unrestrained laughter rang through the heavens.
Under the veil of the starry river, a thousand-zhang torrent of river water descended like a white silk ribbon from the heavens.
The water surged like a dragon, roaring as it sought to crash into Crimson Flame.
Yet before the rushing waves could even draw near, they were entirely vaporized by the scorching heat.
Even so, the river flowed on without end.
It managed to hinder Crimson Flame's movements ever so slightly.
At the same time, every living creature in the Congyun Sea heard the tender voice of a five- or six-year-old boy.
"Tianyang throughout his life..."
A bizarre mechanical voice immediately followed.
"...yields to no one!"
A black-and-red fire shot into the sky, transforming into a chain of flames that instantly locked Crimson Flame's four limbs.
Under the burning heat of pure crimson flames, the black-and-red chain yielded ground inch by inch.
Part of it was assimilated into crimson, while another part melted into black ash and drifted down from the sky.
"Yields!"
"To no one!"
The childlike and mechanical voices rang out together across the sky once more.
They were filled with stubborn resolve.
The black-and-red chain suddenly formed anew from nothingness, restoring its previous shape.
It held Crimson Flame's limbs in a vice-like grip.
In the sky, within the brilliant galaxy, a single star transformed into purple light and fell from afar.
In an instant, it crossed the barriers of boundless space and slammed into Crimson Flame.
There was no earth-shattering impact as one might have imagined.
As soon as the purple light drew close, it was vaporized into nothingness by the unimaginable heat.
It only caused the flames to flicker slightly; beyond that, it had no effect at all.
Crimson Flame tilted its head slightly, as if in mockery.
"Fellow Daoist Hongxi, Fellow Daoist Haoxuan, if you do not strike now, when will you!" a steady female voice urged.
*Rumble, rumble, rumble!*
A faint rumbling echoed through heaven and earth.
"Mountain!"
An inverted mountain peak that appeared exceedingly small suddenly materialized above Crimson Flame's head.
The mountain was like a needle, pressing straight down upon Crimson Flame.
"Mountain!"
"Mountain!"
"Mountain!"
...
A young man's voice sounded repeatedly.
Above, below, left, right, front, and back of Crimson Flame, inverted mountains appeared at the same time.
They trapped it in the center.
Behind each mountain peak, the faint silhouettes of several more mountains could be seen.
The inverted mountains bore down.
The immense pressure warped the space around Crimson Flame.
Yet all the peaks, the moment they neared Crimson Flame, were incinerated into nothingness by the fiery blaze.
At this moment, Crimson Flame faced the simultaneous assault of the Tianyang Chains, the fallen starlight, the White Dragon Lancang waters, and the inverted mountains.
The surging flames across its body showed that it was no longer as at ease as it had been at the beginning.
And so, it prepared to act.
"Strike!"
Right then, a thunderous roar echoed through heaven and earth.
A beam of silver light abruptly flashed and pierced straight through its chest.
Crimson Flame's body stiffened slightly.
Flames churned, and the silver light vanished without a trace.
"Strike!"
Another silver beam pierced through its body.
Yet it paid it no heed and launched its counterattack.
It reached out a hand and lightly flicked a finger.
A terrifying crimson light erupted, instantly eclipsing even the great sun in the sky.
Amidst the explosive roar of flames,
the inverted mountains in all directions were blasted away, tossed about in disarray, their formation broken.
Dragging the Tianyang Chains on its limbs and churning with flames, Crimson Flame seized the white dragon of the Lancang River with its bare hands.
White mist billowed, and the heavenly waterfall instantly showed signs of drying up.
A crimson beam shot from Crimson Flame's eyes, colliding with the purple light descending from the galaxy.
Surging against the tide like a reversed shooting star, it struck the brilliant starry river.
The starlight dimmed from the heavy blow.
In an instant, under Crimson Flame's casual counterattack, the grand joint assault of the five Soul Formation Immortal Lords showed signs of imminent collapse.
Throughout the Congyun Sea and across Wanxian Island,
every cultivator who witnessed this was struck dumb.
Not long ago, they had been awestruck by the earth-shattering divine arts and techniques of the Soul Formation Immortal Lords.
Yet now, when the Dao Integration stage Crimson Flame made its move, they finally understood
the insurmountable chasm between the Dao Integration stage and the Soul Formation stage.
For a moment, several cultivators broke down.
"The combined power of five Immortal Lords is so fragile?"
"Sacrifice an anima of Heaven and Earth, sacrifice an anima of Heaven and Earth... A Dao Integration powerhouse is terrifying to this degree. How could anyone ever sacrifice an anima of Heaven and Earth?"
"Ants, we are all just ants..."
...
Yet there were others who still held faith in Wanxian Island's Soul Formation Immortal Lords.
"Pull yourselves together! How could Immortal Lord Hongxi and the others be defeated so easily? They surely have a backup plan!"
"That's right! The moment that anima appeared, it was besieged. Clearly the Immortal Lords came prepared. Rest assured!"
As if to validate these words,
high in the sky, under the glittering starlight, silvery-white cubes silently appeared around the battlefield.
"That is..."
Li Fan was slightly taken aback.
He recognized this object—it was the array coronet that array master Zhang Zhiliang had given him for self-defense when he had traveled out previously.
A single array coronet contained hundreds of superimposed formations.
Yet now, near the battlefield between Crimson Flame and the five Immortal Lords,
no fewer than several hundred thousand white cubes appeared simultaneously in dense clusters!
"I, Zhang Zhiliang, am the foremost in array methods across the Congyun Sea!"
"Though I possess only a Nascent Soul cultivation,"
"Today, I shall use my Infinite Method to aid the Immortal Lords in achieving their Dao!"
Zhang Zhiliang's proud voice boomed like rolling thunder.
"Spirit Gathering!"
With his low shout,
the several hundred thousand white array coronets simultaneously emitted a faint white glow.
A sudden hush fell over heaven and earth.
Immediately after, these white array coronets released a terrifying suction.
The spiritual energy of the entire Congyun Sea was drawn toward the battlefield in an instant.
A spiritual energy tempest took shape violently.
Countless wisps of spiritual energy, almost condensing into liquid drops, converged from all around.
The damaged Tianyang Chains regained their sturdiness.
The dimmed starry river shone brilliantly once more.
The waters of the Lancang River surged forth in roaring waves again.
The inverted mountains reappeared in their towering majesty.
And these several hundred thousand array coronets, forged by Zhang Zhiliang using the power of the entire Congyun Sea, had far more to offer than just this.
"Deceleration!"
Strands of silvery-white thread shot forth from the array coronets, wrapping around Crimson Flame like spider silk.
The threads seemed devoid of physical form; no matter how fiercely the flames surged, they could only twist the fine strands,
never destroy them.
Hundreds of thousands of threads anchored onto Crimson Flame.
Its movements showed a faint hint of sluggishness.
"Creation and Extinction!"
Beams of white radiance shone upon the five Immortal Lords.
Their offensive abruptly grew even more ferocious.
Furthermore, a new sense of synergy seemed to appear among them,
achieving an effect where the whole was far greater than the sum of its parts.
Crimson Flame, by contrast, found the power of its flames weakened by the Immortal Lords' coordinated strikes with every exchange.
"Annihilation!"
From the hundreds of thousands of white array coronets, beams of black light radiating an aura of destruction shot out from time to time.
They struck Crimson Flame with pinpoint accuracy, causing the flames around its body to flicker rapidly.
...
Formations of varying effects were deployed in succession under Zhang Zhiliang's command.
The cultivators on Wanxian Island watched this spectacle with dropped jaws, utterly incredulous.
"Who is this Zhang Zhiliang? Among the island's array masters, I only knew of Gong Boyu!"
"He said himself that he's only at the Nascent Soul realm? To me, the might of his formations seems to surpass even those Soul Formation Immortal Lords!"
"Master Zhang is indeed the universally acknowledged foremost array master in the Formation Planning Hall."
"Formations... I want to study formations too!"
Having studied formations by Zhang Zhiliang's side for nearly a decade, Li Fan felt this all the more deeply.
To be sure, Zhang Zhiliang's ability to participate in a clash between Soul Formation and Dao Integration was largely thanks to those hundreds of thousands of array coronets.
Yet Li Fan knew in his heart just how difficult it was to manipulate such a massive number of array coronets at the same time.
It required immense mental fortitude and an incomparable mastery over formation craft.
*The Infinite Method...* Li Fan thought of the small black box Zhang Zhiliang had entrusted to him, and his heart stirred.
High in the sky, the battle grew increasingly fierce.
Purple light fell unceasingly from the starry river, striking Crimson Flame squarely.
The silver beams of unknown origin flew with increasing speed, piercing hole after hole through Crimson Flame's body.
The inverted mountains, the Lancang River waters, and the Tianyang Chains
clashed with Crimson Flame in an endless cycle.
Though their offensive was extraordinarily fierce, each strike merely stirred up blossoms of fire.
The power of an anima of Heaven and Earth originated from heaven and earth itself.
It seemed boundless and inexhaustible.
Even with the combined might of five Immortal Lords, it was very difficult to inflict substantial damage upon it.
They could only slowly grind down its strength.
And while Crimson Flame was equivalent to a Dao Integration cultivator, it was ultimately just the embodiment of a worldly law.
It was not truly skilled in combat; it merely suppressed others through pure brute force.
Though every one of its blows posed a great threat to the Soul Formation Immortal Lords, with Zhang Zhiliang and his hundreds of thousands of array coronets assisting from the side,
their injuries could be swiftly healed.
With one side gaining as the other lost, the battle surprisingly fell into a bizarre stalemate.
The cultivators of Wanxian Island watched the battlefield without blinking, terrified of missing the slightest detail.
Five Soul Formation experts battling a Dao Integration existence together.
A spectacle like this could probably be witnessed only once in a lifetime.
Many cultivators even activated shadow-recording stones to document the event.
Whether for their own future enlightenment or to copy and sell, it would be of immense value.
Meanwhile, a small group of cultivators sensed that something was amiss and attempted to flee via the teleportation formations, only to discover that the formations had all ceased working.
In a panic, they flew out from Wanxian Island, attempting to escape the Congyun Sea under their own power.
...
Amidst the varied reactions of the crowd, Li Fan also observed this titanic clash closely through his clone.
Yet before long, he suddenly shifted his gaze toward the Congyun Sea beneath the great sun.
There, something seemed to be slowly taking shape.
The information transmitted from the Vast Sea Pearl within his true body told him this was no illusion.
*Zhang. Hao. Bo.* Li Fan sounded out each syllable in his mind, his expression turning strange.
He had thought that by soaring on the wind to dominate Wanxian Island, Zhang Haobo had drawn the attention of the Soul Formation Immortal Lords and prompted them to set up this deadly trap against Crimson Flame—and that this was already the limit of what he could achieve.
Yet who would have thought he still had a move to make?
How was that possible?
No matter how fast he cultivated, he could not have broken through to the Golden Core realm in just a few short years.
Even if Zhang Haobo were at peak Great Perfection of the Golden Core realm, in a battle of this caliber, he would be nothing more than an ant.
What could he possibly do?
Li Fan's eyes remained fixed on the air above the sea.
There, an illusory silhouette was gradually coalescing.
Gradually, other cultivators beside Li Fan noticed the anomaly.
"Look quickly, what is that?"
"Could another Soul Formation Immortal Lord be joining the battle?"
"That figure looks so familiar. It seems like I've seen him somewhere before?"
"It's Zhang Haobo, who rode the wind to dominate Wanxian Island back then!"
Amidst the crowd's cries of shock, Zhang Haobo's figure grew with the wind, swelling into the size of a towering mountain in the blink of an eye.
"This is..."
"A Golden Core dharma body! He actually shattered his core!"
"Why? Such a young Golden Core cultivator, with a boundless future ahead!"
Information regarding the Golden Core dharma body instantly surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
It was said that one fathoms the laws of heaven and earth to refine a Golden Core.
If Foundation Establishment was using insights gained from wonders of heaven and earth to construct a Dao Foundation,
then the Golden Core was the condensation of laws one had truly comprehended for oneself.
A Golden Core dharma body meant detonating the laws condensed within one's Golden Core along with one's physical body,
forming an entity purely composed of laws that existed briefly between heaven and earth.
The dharma body could only persist for less than half a day.
Once it dissipated, it meant the cultivator's absolute death.
Only a Golden Core cultivator driven into a hopeless corner, executing a desperate strike at the cost of his life, would ever employ this method.
Yet unexpectedly, Zhang Haobo had unleashed it without any apparent reason and without the slightest hesitation.
What was he trying to do?
The cultivators on Wanxian Island all focused their gazes upon this Golden Core dharma body.
A single thought flashed through everyone's minds in unison.
Yet immediately after, they banished the unrealistic notion to the back of their minds.
He... intended to slay a Dao Integration existence with a Golden Core?
No one would ever dare to dream of such a thing.
And yet...
Zhang Haobo dared!
His body had grown to its utmost limit, massive as a mountain.
Looking at Crimson Flame and the five Soul Formation Immortal Lords locked in fierce combat nearby in the sky,
an unreadable expression surfaced on his face.
He extended his left hand, and an azure water droplet appeared in his palm.
With a mix of gratitude and nostalgia in his gaze, a glint of resolve flashed through Zhang Haobo's eyes.
With a fierce clench, the blue droplet detonated with a boom.
Endless blue radiance erupted from it and was absorbed by Zhang Haobo.
Below, the Congyun Sea seemed to boil in an instant, waves rising without any wind.
Amidst the surging billows, countless motes of blue light flew swiftly toward Zhang Haobo.
Zhang Haobo's frame expanded several times over in an instant.
Like a primordial giant that split the heavens, his head touched the dark sky while his feet stood upon the blue sea.
His eyes were level with Crimson Flame.
Looking at the familiar figure before him, Zhang Haobo spoke in a ringing voice.
"You!"
"Destroyed my homeland!"
"Incinerated my kin!"
Pausing briefly, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"You ought to..."
"Take a strike of my sword!"
A dazzling blue light suddenly flared between heaven and sea.
Its radiance was blinding, far surpassing the sun in the sky.
Every cultivator watching the scene instinctively shut their eyes.
Using his very body as a sword, Zhang Haobo slashed forward in an instant.
Fearless of life and death, pressing forward with unstoppable resolve!
"This sword strike!"
"I have waited sixteen years for it!"
The attacks of the five Immortal Lords rained down like a sudden tempest, growing fiercer to pin Crimson Flame in place.
In a flash of lightning, the blue sword silhouette traversed layers of spatial barriers and struck Crimson Flame!
It pierced straight through its body, its momentum unabated as it flew on into the distance.
Meanwhile, Zhang Haobo had shrunk back to the size of an ordinary man.
Only, everything below his waist had completely vanished.
Only his upper torso remained floating in midair.
His hands gripped Crimson Flame in a death lock. Under the pure, blazing law of flame, his dharma body began to melt away like wax.
Soon, his facial features grew blurred and hideous.
Yet he never let go.
Zhang Haobo smiled and spoke his final words.
"Actually..."
"I lied to you just now."
"I..."
"Still have twenty-seven swords."
Before his voice had even faded, across every corner of the Congyun Sea,
gigantic waves surged, unleashing a heaven-shaking roar.
This was not merely Zhang Haobo's strength—it was the will of the entire Congyun Sea.
Heaven sought to incinerate the sea, yet the sea refused to yield.
And so...
I have
the Twenty-Eight Congyun Swords!
The remaining twenty-seven beams of blue radiance materialized in an instant.
Blotting out the sky and covering the sun, they illuminated all living beings.
Targeting the Crimson Flame locked in place by Zhang Haobo, they arrived in an instant.
Twenty-seven swords, each piercing clean through its body.
Across Crimson Flame's translucent form, blue fissures abruptly appeared.
It stared silently at Zhang Haobo, who was still clutching it and nearly melted away entirely, its face devoid of expression.
Then...
The flames suddenly dimmed.
The crimson figure grew increasingly translucent, slowly dissolving away like ice into water.
At the same time, Zhang Haobo, who had been reduced to merely half a skull, saw his aura swell with boundless power.
A body seemingly composed of fire formed beneath his head.
A crushing pressure manifested alongside it.
The five Immortal Lords were forced to reveal themselves and descend toward the sea's surface.
Even the sun in the sky was forced to rein in its light.
Flames danced across his body as Zhang Haobo's form finally took complete shape.
He looked down upon all living beings in the Congyun Sea, his face devoid of joy or sorrow.
A new Dao Integration Immortal Venerable had been born.
Silence fell over Wanxian Island.
Every cultivator stared blankly, unable to believe the scene before their eyes.
"A Dao Integration Immortal Venerable... An Immortal Venerable after cultivating for merely sixteen years..."
Unable to contain themselves, they murmured under their breath.
Even Li Fan, the instigator behind it all, looked up at the silhouette in the sky with a face full of shock.
*He actually pulled it off?*
The Congyun Sea churned with giant waves, seemingly celebrating the birth of a new Immortal Venerable and celebrating its own escape from catastrophe.
The gazes of all living beings converged at this moment upon the Dao Integration Immortal Venerable, Zhang Haobo.
Veneration, envy, dread...
All manner of emotions welled up spontaneously.
...
Right at this moment,
a fine black thread silently pierced through Zhang Haobo's chest.
Behind him, a figure composed entirely of deep, concentrated ink appeared out of thin air.
The instant every living creature in the Congyun Sea laid eyes upon this ink-black figure, their souls trembled uncontrollably.
From that instinct, they learned its name.
Mo Sha.
Zhang Haobo tried to turn his head in stunned disbelief,
only to find that he could no longer move.
His aura plummeted in an instant.
Zhang Haobo
was dead!
Chapter 142