"Violet Palace Late Stage..."
Yuanxiu's gaze rested upon the sword-bearing man standing before him. The man's attire was identical to Si Boxiu's—the finest Violet Palace robes of the Qingchi Sect. While Yuansu had never cared to wear them, this man never took them off.
"Chi Buzi..."
Violet Palace Late Stage, four divine abilities!
The man's countenance differed from the narrow eyes and straight brows typical of the Chi family; his features were more compact and his eyes larger, lending him a striking presence. His magic power flowed in consummate harmony, exuding overwhelming might.
Yuanxiu fell silent at once. Calculating carefully, Chi Buzi had barely reached three hundred years of age, yet multiple watery silhouettes already rippled around his figure, giving off the shifting clarity and turbidity unique to the Lu Water nature. His imposing aura was more terrifying than even Yuanxiu's own.
After disappearing for decades, he had traversed the Violet Palace hurdle as if it were nothing. Chi Buzi had been Qingchi's greatest genius a century ago, progressing with astonishing speed. After breaking through to the Violet Palace with the Heavy Turbid Lu Water base, he forged divine abilities one after another, attaining the Sound of the Cavern Spring and Clear Dusk Rain in less than a century!
Chi Wei had prized him immensely back then, hailing him as the "precious tree of the Chi family." Half the old bastard's audacity in swaggering about and claiming prodigies from every quarter had stemmed entirely from having Chi Buzi at his back.
Unfortunately for the old man, Chi Buzi had never marched to his drum. Later, when Chi Buzi broke through to the Violet Palace Mid Stage, Yuanxiu thought he would plateau there; who could have known that over the past few decades, whether he had cultivated Cleansing Kalpa Dew or Choukui Hidden Sound, he was already at the Violet Palace Late Stage!
Chi Buzi seemed long accustomed to Yuanxiu's cold demeanor. Lagging half a step behind, he held his sword flat across his other palm, staring at the markings etched into the blade.
Yuanxiu did not answer right away. Keeping his face stiff, he said in a deep voice, "Buzi, your cultivation has truly made tremendous strides. And now you're finally willing to show yourself?"
"Where did Uncle's words come from?" Chi Buzi replied with a gentle smile, lowering his eyes. "Uncle overpraises me. Let us dispose of these few fools first."
His gaze shifted toward the two Lianmins before him. With one hand reaching toward his waist to weave an incantation seal, and his other hand gripping the hilt to brandish his treasured blade like a talisman sword, his divine abilities surged as he chanted, "I invite the Dingchou Water of Dispersion!"
Dingchou in numerology signified dispersion and strength, governing clarity of spirit and discernment. The two remaining Lianmins lurking in midair could no longer remain hidden. Erupting simultaneously, they unleashed prismatic radiance across the sky—two Lianmins specializing in golden bodies. Towering in stature, they brought their massive palms down toward him.
The incantation from Chi Buzi's mouth drifted into the air, transforming amidst the colorful glow into a sheet of grey. Rushing forth from between his lips and teeth, the grey mist poured onto the sword hilt, striking against the golden edge and rippling outward in waves of grey light.
The legal sword in his hand unleashed two streaks of pure light that suppressed the colored radiance draping their bodies. He remarked leisurely, "Next, you will form hand seals."
His green sword burst with vibrant colors as ten thousand razor-sharp air currents surged forth, blasting the two Lianmins back amid agonizing shrieks. To the side, Seven-Eyed's golden eyes gleamed brightly. Abandoning Yuanxiu—who had deliberately been holding back—he released two golden rings from his hands and hurled them straight at Chi Buzi.
Nuzi Lianmin had already contemplated retreat the moment Chi Buzi appeared, vacillating between giving up and lingering a little longer. Seeing Seven-Eyed strike with full force, Nuzi made up his mind and moved to pin Yuanxiu down.
Chi Buzi remained utterly composed and at ease. Lifting his sword with a chuckle, he said, "Uncle, the divine abilities of these Lianmins are all borrowed from the same mold. But borrowed things are not one's own. Once you have seen them once, dealing with them is child's play."
These words struck the two Lianmins like a physical blow. A flicker of hesitation crossed their gold-lacquered faces; their seven or eight hands froze halfway through weaving hand seals, unable to finish the strike yet unwilling to disperse the power. Chi Buzi reversed his grip on the sword and grinned.
With a gentle spin, his green robes swirled, and he vanished from the spot, reappearing directly behind the two Lianmins with his blade raised in a leisurely smile.
Just then, a thunderous boom echoed across the sky. A streak of searing crimson light darted through the air at blinding speed, arriving before them in the blink of an eye. Only after it landed did the voice finally rumble in:
"Bald donkeys!"
Yuanxiu's ear twitched. Recognizing the voice at once, he sighed inwardly, knowing his plan to test Chi Buzi's strength was completely ruined. Decisively making his move, he cast a talisman that unleashed countless golden chains, lashing out to bind Nuzi Lianmin.
Upon hearing that roar, Nuzi felt his heart sink halfway into his chest. Hengzhu Dao had always been irreconcilably hostile to the Buddhist sect, and Master Hengli was infamous for his visceral hatred of monks. Seeing him burst into the fray, Nuzi realized there were now three late-stage Violet Palace masters present. Terrified, he leapt up like a startled rabbit, abandoned Seven-Eyed, and fled for his life!
Master Hengli was exceedingly fierce. With a roar like a tiger, he struck the golden light with an open palm, sending Seven-Eyed stumbling backward. "Bald donkeys!"
Seven-Eyed was frightened out of his wits, cursing furiously in his heart: *Why did this madman have to come too?! This old monk only wanted a heavy injury to excuse his withdrawal, not to throw his life away!*
Sweeping his divine sense across the field, Seven-Eyed saw that Nuzi had already turned tail, and their fellow disciples Shi Ke and Shi En had vanished without a trace. Acting without hesitation, Seven-Eyed stepped back half a pace, dissolving into a beam of golden light to flee.
Hengli pursued them into the distance wrapped in blazing flames.
With the Lianmins scattering in flight, Chi Buzi rode the wind back. Yuanxiu hesitated over whether to chase Nuzi, but unlike Hengli, neither he nor Chi Buzi harbored any blood feud against the Buddhists; neither had any desire to undertake such thankless labor. Watching Hengli pursue the monks with fire, Chi Buzi landed beside Master Yuanxiu and remarked languidly, "Hengli truly hates the Buddhist way to the bone!"
Both men understood why. Hengzhu Dao had always held the Buddhists in contempt. Years ago, when Murong Xia traveled south to seek his breakthrough, he had devoured a direct daughter of Hengzhu Dao. That had provoked three of their Violet Palace masters to march out together, only to return empty-handed and disgraced, becoming the laughingstock of the realm. With old grudges compounded by new hatred, it was no wonder Hengli burned with such fury.
Yuanxiu stood with his hands behind his back, his feelings profoundly tangled. He thought of his senior brother Yuansu, who had refused to beg the Chi family for a cultivation method right up to the moment of his death. After several breaths of silence, Yuanxiu finally spoke.
"Good... So all four divine abilities were cultivated by yourself. To obtain a late-stage Violet Palace manual... that proves your capability."
Chi Buzi chuckled and replied, "Your nephew has little else to boast of, but my ambition is second to none. The Xiayuan True Monarch cultivated his own nature to achieve the True Monarch realm; by learning a fraction of his path, I have made some headway."
Hearing the unspoken meaning behind those words, Yuanxiu felt a tremendous shock reverberate within him. An incredulous gleam danced in his eyes as he murmured, "The Violet Palace hurdle was like nothing to him... Just what kind of fortuitous encounter did he find in the East Sea?"
Chi Buzi smiled faintly and continued, "Furthermore, as Uncle knows, there are only two Violet Palace methods within our sect. Even adding the Ning family's Luchi Dongxuan Classic, there are only three. The remaining two are truly hard to find, so I can only search here. Uncle, I did not come to covet the golden nature. Since Anhuai Heaven retains remnants of golden nature, it proves that the Violet Palace master died completely unprepared. Everyone desires the golden nature, but who knows what ancient spiritual artifacts might also remain? I merely came along to take a look."
That Anhuai Heaven held cultivation methods was indeed true. Though the Jiang family had brought out many rubbings, keeping the original texts inside the grotto-heaven remained the safest choice. Because that Violet Palace ancestor had perished so abruptly, many manuals had never been retrieved, making it very possible that a water-path manual remained within.
Once a Violet Palace cultivator formed three divine abilities, the Shengyang Mansion stabilized, making the fourth divine ability exceptionally difficult to condense. Getting stuck for a century was commonplace, a bottleneck known to the immortal path as the Violet Palace hurdle. Yuanxiu himself had been trapped before that hurdle for nearly a hundred years, only breaking through to the late stage after Chi Wei's death; he knew all too well how arduous it was.
As the two conversed, flying northward, the dense array lines in the sky slowly illuminated, revealing six pitch-black rifts. The entire formation shuddered faintly. With no one presiding over it, it could only resist through the formation's own innate instincts.
Within the dark rifts, countless golden eyes lit up first, followed by innumerable massive hands gripping both edges. Golden Dharma bodies shoved inward with all their might, producing thunderous crashing sounds.
"I wondered why the Mahas had yet to act," Chi Buzi remarked. "It turns out the immortal array detected them, stalling them outside for over a quarter of an hour!"
Chi Buzi paused and looked ahead. Green halls sat atop white stone tiers beneath hazy light and drifting white vapors. Above hung a bright plaque inscribed with several ancient seal characters in gold.
Taking in the scenery, he nodded and said, "Please. Will Uncle join me? Ahead appears to be Anhuai Heaven's Wendao Palace. Though I know a little of formations, I cannot compare to Uncle's method of breaking arrays with talismans. When Uncle cultivated on Lake Wangyue in his early years, that technique was renowned throughout the State of Yue, yet I have rarely witnessed it. Today, I can finally broaden my horizons!"
Yuanxiu glanced up at the formation. No one had entered yet. While he had little interest in cultivation methods, he could certainly examine the arts within. Although the teachings passed down by the True Monarch would not be kept here, they would suffice for a Violet Palace master to study. Thus, he nodded.
Chi Buzi replied with a playful tone, but the divine ability beneath his feet accelerated swiftly. Yuanxiu likewise looked up, and the two shuttled through the grotto-heaven, coming to a halt before a tall, circular altar-shaped palace.
***
The Great River surged with turbulent waves, rushing from the west into the Salt Lake to divide north from south, its frothing spray glistening white and magnificent.
Along the riverbank, cultivators came and went. A beam of bright light arrived from the south, descending within the grand formation on the shore to reveal a cultivator of youthful appearance. The radiant light beneath his feet drew countless eyes.
"Daoist Ximing!"
Li Ximing had spent several months stationed here and was gradually growing familiar with the post. Seeing him descend, the cultivators on both sides bowed aside, respectfully greeting him, "Greetings, Daoist!"
In his hand, Li Ximing held a small white disc engraved with dense patterns, divided evenly into six sections with distinct carvings.
This was the magical artifact he had traded the demon jar for, known as Guiyang. It was a fine defensive artifact obtained from demonic cultivators, and the Ning family had traded it to him without hesitation.
Forged from spiritual materials of the Shaoyang nature mixed with a trace of True Fire essence, Guiyang had evidently belonged to a demonic cultivator of the Violet Palace Golden Core path. Though not pure Mingyang, it was sufficiently close to serve as a capable magical artifact. Li Ximing understood that the demon jar could never match the value of Guiyang; the Ning family had handed it over so readily simply to repay his favor. Stowing it away, he felt considerably more at ease.
Li Ximing had no idea what was transpiring at Chenshui Mausoleum. Having guarded this place for several months, he had accumulated some experience, but since midnight, the clash between north and south had defied all expectations.
In a single hour, dozens of Qi Refinement demonic cultivators had fled past, and several Foundation Establishment demon lords had even paused outside. Frightened out of their wits, the cultivators managing the formation had hurriedly summoned him.
Li Ximing's expression darkened. Striding to the front of the array, he looked out and saw demonic cultivators lurking within thick, overlapping demonic vapors, their greedy eyes glaring straight at the formation.
"Daoist... in just one hour, several of our outposts on the north bank vanished without a trace, sending no word at all..."
"Please act swiftly... the northern demonic cultivators are pushing forward again..."
"More and more demonic cultivators have gathered here over the past few hours..."
Li Ximing frowned, sighing at the incompetence of the man before him. It was only because this formation was not entirely under his family's jurisdiction that such a person could climb to this post. He asked coldly, "Is there any news from the Ning family?"
The cultivator trembled at his tone, suppressing his fear of a Foundation Establishment master as he whispered, "They came to inquire a quarter of an hour ago!"
"What did they say?"
"They said there is upheaval in the north... and requested that Zhouwei flee to the East Sea immediately..."
Li Ximing froze, an icy dread creeping up his spine. "What?!"
Thinking Li Ximing was questioning him, the cultivator fell to his knees in terror, kowtowing repeatedly. "This lowly one doesn't know! I know nothing!"
Li Ximing had no patience left to mind him. Pacing anxiously, the dread in his heart grew with every passing thought.
*Didn't Ning Heyuan say Granduncle was with Master Yuanxiu? Why would they ask me about such things? Could he have lost contact with the master?!*
*A complete mess... it is an absolute disaster...*
The demonic cultivators seemed to have shed all restraint; the entire State of Xu had descended into chaos, and orders from Mount Bianyan were trapped in the north. It felt as though the entire chessboard had been smashed to pieces, leaving both north and south utterly bewildered.
The demonic cultivators were slaughtering one another in a frenzy, yet the demonic cloud continued to roll southward even as they fought, sprouting countless tendrils that reached for the south. The orderly sense of pawn against pawn and general against general was completely gone.
Li Ximing yanked the trembling man from the ground, shoved a jade talisman into his robes, and snapped harshly, "Useless!"
He immediately pulled a blank jade talisman from the desk, poured his spiritual sense into it, and began rapidly inscribing an urgent message...
Chapter 596