Although a hint of regret lingered on Huangfu Song's face, the purpose of this trip had clearly been achieved.
"Let's go. With Guan Xingxiu's Falling Star Divine Sword shielding us, we'll definitely make it through this trip safe and sound."
He summoned the Dust-Crossing Boat once more, unable to contain his delight.
Reflecting on the exchange between the two men in the courtyard, Li Fan asked thoughtfully, "Has the local wave of resistance grown so severe that even you need to seek an umbrella of protection?"
Huangfu Song replied, "Better safe than sorry. In such a backwater, anything can happen. If a revolt broke out and they actually tied the two of us up, tossed us into the ashes of the Cinder-Oblivion Flowing Fire, and claimed it was an accident, what could we possibly do? But with Guan Xingxiu's Falling Star Divine Sword, things are different."
With a smug expression, Huangfu Song added, "Don't look down on him just because he only has a Soul Formation cultivation right now. A Soul Formation cultivator fallen from the Dao Integration realm is vastly more formidable than any ordinary Soul Formation cultivator. At the very least, in Lanlin Province, where no Dao Integration Immortal Venerable presides, this flying sword of Guan Xingxiu's is enough to suppress any defiance."
The fat cultivator took out the small golden sword again, stroking it fondly over and over.
Li Fan gazed at the Falling Star Divine Sword, faintly sensing a towering, heroic sharpness emanating from within it. Recalling the indolent figure he had just seen, he could not help but sigh inwardly.
*A grand Dao Integration cultivator of his era, fallen to such depths simply for failing to see the way the wind was blowing.*
Then, recalling Guan Xingxiu's words, Li Fan could not resist asking, "Senior Guan mentioned earlier that his old superior had passed away. Did Immortal Venerable Jicheng perish?"
"Indeed. Not too long ago, in fact. In the end, the venerable elder died quietly alongside that willow tree in his own Tianji Courtyard."
Immortal Venerable Jicheng's aged face involuntarily surfaced before Li Fan's eyes.
*If not for True Reversion, perhaps before long, I would be just like him, able only to wait in dread for death to claim me.*
*What does a Dao Integration cultivation amount to in the end? Without attaining Longevity, it is all vanity after all.*
As if stirred by the fall of this venerable Dao Integration powerhouse, Huangfu Song put away the Falling Star Divine Sword and remarked with deep melancholy, "Perhaps Guan Xingxiu's disheartened state is also tied to this. Even with the formidable foundation of having commanded the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' Garrison Court for five hundred years, Immortal Venerable Jicheng still had no hope of Longevity. From this, one can see just how difficult defying the principles of Heaven and Earth truly is. Now that Guan Xingxiu has been stripped of his cultivation, attempting to rebuild from Soul Formation will be even harder. To integrate with the Dao again, he must rely on an anima of Heaven and Earth similar to the one he had before. An anima of Heaven and Earth is already exceedingly rare, and if specific attributes are required, it becomes practically impossible."
***
Amid his casual conversation with Huangfu Song, the Dust-Crossing Boat arrived at the core central region of the Spirit-Locking Formation—the predetermined location designated for installing the Tianxuan array hub.
At present, the formation's construction was not yet complete, and it would still take a few days of waiting.
Apart from the formation masters who were also students from the Universal Courtyard, the other cultivators were not particularly welcoming toward Huangfu Song and Li Fan. At least, that was how it appeared on the surface. Yet once Huangfu Song brought out the Falling Star Divine Sword, those cultivators had no choice but to rein themselves in.
Meanwhile, in Shilin Province, near what had once been the Congyun Sea and was now the Congyun Abyss.
Zhang Haobo looked out into the endless void not far away, his face etched with grief. Even though this was not the first time he had witnessed the scene, it was still difficult for him to accept.
His former homeland, that azure ocean once brimming with the breath of life, had actually turned into this upon their reunion.
"Haobo, take heart," Xiao Heng walked over, patted his shoulder, and offered comforting words.
"What on earth happened back then? Why did the vast Congyun Sea suddenly end up like this?" Zhang Haobo could not help but ask again.
Xiao Heng shook his head. "I don't know either. Back then, Senior Skull suddenly warned us that a great catastrophe might befall the Congyun Sea. So, not long after you all left for Jiushan Province, I fled far away from the Congyun Sea as well. Ye Feipeng seemed to know something and adamantly refused to come with me. I assumed he had some opportunity he was keeping from me, but who could have guessed that he would never be seen again after that? Thinking about it now, he has probably long departed this world. Had I known, I should have tried harder to persuade him back then." A wisp of sorrow flickered through Xiao Heng's eyes.
After a long silence, he continued, "Over these years, I tried to investigate the changes that occurred in the Congyun Sea. Yet to my astonishment, after less than a single year had passed, most cultivators had almost no memory of the Congyun Sea at all. It was as though this region had never existed. Even now, it is only when I gaze upon this abyss with my own eyes that I can recall the existence of the Congyun Sea."
Zhang Haobo said, "The same is true for me. During my nearly ten years in Jiushan Province, not once did I recall the Congyun Sea. It was only after returning to find you all and beholding the Congyun Abyss that the memories of the past came surging back like a tide."
He paused, then lowered his voice. "This must be the influence of the Longevity Heavenly Venerable."
Xiao Heng nodded slightly. "Perhaps before long, this memory in our minds will completely vanish, just like the Congyun Sea of old."
The two stood facing each other in silence.
A quiet stillness settled over the edge of the abyss.
Before long, it was broken by a rumbling noise echoing from nearby.
The two looked back and saw that Su Xiaomei and Su Changyu were sparring again.
"Brother, watch out!"
Su Xiaomei flashed a bizarre smile at Su Changyu.
An instant later, dozens of figures dressed in various garbs appeared simultaneously, surrounding Su Changyu. These figures held diverse weapons, yet they had no faces. Across each blank visage, distinct blood-red symbols merely shifted and swirled.
"Let's see if you can block this move!"
These faceless bloody visages spoke in unison, cackling in their respective eerie cadences.
The weapons in the figures' hands gave off wisps of bloody radiance. Countless crimson rays erupted, hurtling toward Su Changyu alongside the cacophony of voices.
Far from panicking, Su Changyu simply stood there with his eyes closed.
The instant the beams of blood-light drew near him, his outstretched right hand gleamed with a lustrous white radiance. Moving at immense speed, it instantly gave rise to the spectacle of a thousand hands appearing at once. Each phantom hand seized an incoming beam of blood-light. Then, they exerted force simultaneously.
In the next breath, the direction of the blood-red luminescence was reversed, turning back to assault the dozens of faceless bloody visages instead.
*Boom!*
The tides turned in an instant. Caught off guard, the figures were struck by their own attacks, and many of them vanished on the spot.
Yet one of them, having taken a blast of blood-light, emerged completely unscathed. Instead, concealed under the cover of the exploding light, it slipped quietly close to Su Changyu.
The figure violently detonated, and a colossal net of flame surged forth to engulf Su Changyu.
Su Changyu's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes snapped open.
Within each eyeball rested two pupils. The four black apertures contracted until they were as fine as needle tips, and the raging flames before him froze in place in an instant.
Su Changyu then struck out with a palm.
His target was not the flames before him, but the hidden Su Xiaomei.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Illusory palm silhouettes materialized one after another, and bursts of explosions rang out continuously in the surroundings.
"You can't hit me!"
Su Xiaomei's voice echoed from all directions, elusive and ghostly.
"Oh?"
"Oh?"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Su Changyu's mouth.
High up in the sky, a colossal transparent palm had formed at some unknown moment, completely blanketing the battlefield where the two stood. It then pressed down right upon her head.
*Boom!*
The ground caved in, kicking up clouds of dust as a massive handprint was stamped into the earth. Su Xiaomei, hiding within, could no longer conceal herself. She was plucked out by the illusory five fingers and bound in midair.
"Break for me!" Su Xiaomei shouted furiously.
Her eyes turned crimson, and the tightly clenched fingers around her loosened slightly, threatening to be torn open at any second.
Su Changyu extended his right hand and clenched it from afar.
Another illusory giant palm materialized, overlaying the previous transparent palm. Su Xiaomei was once again suppressed beneath it.
"Aaaah! So annoying!"
Su Xiaomei's innate divine ability continued to flare. Her hair gradually turned fiery red, and the surrounding air warped from the scorching heat. Yet no matter how she struggled, she could not break free from the giant palm's suppression.
"I give up!"
Accompanying Su Xiaomei's exasperated cry, a crimson sun inexplicably manifested in the sky, and the phantom giant palm was incinerated into nothingness under the sun's burning glare.
Having regained her freedom, Su Xiaomei showed no joy on her face as she retracted her Crimson Sun Grotto-Heaven domain. Scratching her head, she flew to Su Changyu's side.
"Brother, how did you get so strong? Even with my cultivation suppressed to the Golden Core realm, I'm still no match for you now," she asked curiously.
"Back when we left the Congyun Sea, the Yin sisters discovered ancient artifacts with Dao charm preserved from antiquity. After all these years of restoration, they can finally provide a glimpse of a complete wisp of Dao charm. That Heaven-Suppressing Palm just now was something I comprehended from that Dao charm. Xiaomei, your comprehension far exceeds mine; I'm sure you will be able to derive an even stronger divine ability from it."
***
"Back when we left the Congyun Sea, the Yin sisters discovered ancient artifacts with Dao charm preserved from antiquity..."
As Su Changyu spoke, an identical voice rang out in unison, creating a bizarre double echo. Yet as he slowly closed his eyes, the secondary echo grew fainter and fainter, until it was barely audible.
Su Changyu had explained that this was due to a special technique he cultivated, so Su Xiaomei and the others, having grown used to it, no longer found it strange.
"Awesome! I want to study this divine ability too!" Hearing Su Changyu's words, she clapped her hands happily.
Even without opening his eyes, Su Changyu could clearly perceive the appearance of the younger sister he had not seen in so long. Even though she had already reached the Nascent Soul realm, she still acted like a child who had never grown up. At that thought, Su Changyu dotingly patted Su Xiaomei's head.
"Separated for over ten years, we have finally reunited at last."
Watching this scene from the side, Xiao Heng could not help but feel a sense of warmth and relief.
Suddenly, he sensed faint fluctuations coming from the hand bone in his storage ring that had gone unused for a long time, and a look of delight immediately washed over his face.
Ever since Senior Skull issued that warning and saved everyone's lives, it had fallen back into slumber. Could it be that it had finally awakened now?
Without delay, Xiao Heng eagerly entered the White Bone Vanguard Realm.
Chapter 394