Absurd

"How is this possible?!" Zuo Chuan's thoughts seemed to stall for a moment. Twelve defensive formations. Even the weakest among them was rank six. With defenses this formidable, even if struck square-on by a Yin-Yang Dissociation Art, they could not possibly have been shattered so easily—unless the enemy had mobilized over a hundred rank-three great spell cultivators to strike together. Only... How could that be?! Even combining Zhenhai Institute and the Sword-Bearing Institute, their total number of rank-three great spell cultivators did not reach a hundred. Moreover, they had scouted beforehand; the enemy's spell cultivators numbered only around thirty-odd. Even if a few had hidden their abilities and practiced both sword and spell arts, grant them fifty great spell cultivators at most. Yet that was still only half of a hundred. Furthermore, not to mention that the Yin-Yang Dissociation Art they had sensed matched the scale of thirty-odd people joining hands, the more people involved in casting a combined spell, the longer it took to chant! The enemy had taken less than twenty minutes to unleash this Yin-Yang Dissociation Art... It was clearly impossible for a hundred people to have joined forces! "Breached! The formations are breached!" "Not good! Repel the enemy!" "Incoming flying swords!" Waves of panicked shouts jolted Zuo Chuan out of his stunned disbelief. "Watch out! Everyone strike—intercept the flying swords!" Zuo Chuan roared, leaping into the air. Whether he was willing to accept it or not, the reality lay before him. What he truly needed to do right now was give everything he had to preserve the lives of everyone aboard the sky-patrol warship. As he surged into the air, he barked orders to his deputy: "Contact the Heavenly Palace cultivators! Request reinforcements from nearby combat units!" "Yes, sir!" Receiving the order, the deputy immediately stimulated his divine mind. Yet just as their divine minds flared to establish contact with their sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators, a surge of divine mind fluctuations—so powerful it seemed capable of dominating the entire battlefield—swept past, thoroughly scattering their thoughts. At the same time, led by Tang Fenghua, over twenty sword cultivators who had deliberately conserved some strength charged in brazenly. Like dead wood breaking before a tempest, they cut through the meager line of opposing sword cultivators and darted straight toward the Origin Spirit cultivators. "Nine Cauldrons Sect! How dare you! Are you trying to wage an all-out war against our Great Sun Sword Sect?!" Zuo Chuan let out an enraged roar, immediately activating the sky-patrol warship's emergency defensive formations that protected only a few vital sections. "Hah!" Tang Fenghua's expression was chilly. All-out war?! If the Nine Cauldrons Sect were genuinely weak and helpless, war might indeed descend upon them. But as long as the Nine Cauldrons Sect continued to demonstrate sufficient might, war would never be visited upon their heads. Watching the emergency formation spring up, Tang Fenghua was just about to make a move when Yaoguang's exquisitely timed guidance arrived in his divine sense. Instantly, three of the twenty-odd incoming flying swords broke away. Swift as thunderbolts, they traced the energy fluctuations radiating from the formation's activation and obliterated it with pinpoint precision at its most critical node. Such a precise strike... It finally made Zuo Chuan realize something. "A formation master!" There was a formation master in Zhenhai Institute! And not just any master... A formation grandmaster! No, wait! Even an ordinary formation grandmaster would likely lack this kind of ability! After all, the twelve defensive formations on this sky-patrol warship of theirs not only spanned multiple ranks, but also encompassed several different categories. Even a formation grandmaster could not possibly master every single rank-six formation! There was only one real possibility... Not only did the enemy possess a formation grandmaster, but they had also long since uncovered the distribution of formations on the Spring Rain sky-patrol warship through spies, allowing them to study and unravel these formations in advance. Only that explained why the enemy could shatter all twelve defensive formations on the Spring Rain at once with a single Yin-Yang Dissociation Art! Just as he arrived at this "truth," more than a dozen of the flying swords broke through wave after wave of interception, crashing into the ranks of the Origin Spirit cultivators. At this moment, the fragility of the Origin Spirit cultivators was laid bare before Yaoguang's eyes. Faced with the lethal barrage of flying swords from great sword cultivators, not a single one among them could withstand even a solitary strike. Where the sword gleams swept, blood rained down! Not one of the twelve Origin Spirit cultivators aboard the sky-patrol warship was spared; they were wiped out in an instant! "No!" Zuo Chuan let out an agonized roar nearly identical to that of Xuanming Sect's Sect Master, Song You. He erupted with everything he had, thrusting his sword into the sky, desperate to shoot down the flying swords slaughtering the crew. But guided by Yaoguang, Tang Fenghua's life-bound flying sword had already swooped in to meet him. Tang Fenghua's life-bound flying sword was an improved Zixiao-15, a genuine fourth-generation flying sword, far more advanced than Zuo Chuan's own. Crucially... Three other great sword cultivators were providing support from the flanks. With the four working in unison, Zuo Chuan could barely hold his ground. Before long, two notches were hacked into his life-bound flying sword. While the four hemmed him in, the remaining sword cultivators unleashed crisscrossing sword qi. Although the Spring Rain's sword cultivators fought back desperately from time to time, most were already spent arrows nearing the end of their flight. Coupled with Yaoguang's relentless divine mind interference, their effective combat strength was even worse than that of the spell cultivators. As for the spell cultivators... With the descent of the second spell unleashed jointly by the thirty-six spell cultivators of Zhenhai Institute—the Annihilation Purple Light—the enemy spell cultivators, stripped of formation protection, were swiftly eliminated. While the clash could hardly be called a one-sided massacre, it was nonetheless a complete thrashing. In particular, with their Origin Spirit cultivators dead and Zhenhai Institute's Origin Spirit cultivators holding absolute dominance over the battlefield, Zuo Chuan could not even send out a plea for help. "Zhenhai Institute! Zhenhai Institute!" Zuo Chuan charged left and right, his heart filled with bitter fury to the extreme. Although the quality of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Zhenhai Institute in terms of sword and spell cultivators could not compare to the Sword-Bearing Institute, its spirit cultivators surpassed the Sword-Bearing Institute—and indeed all the elite combat institutes of the Great Sun Sword Sect—by a full tier. In terms of spirit cultivation strength alone, it could even be considered the number one institute on the Tianxing Continent. By a conservative estimate, there were no fewer than five rank-five Origin Spirit cultivators within its ranks. And on top of that, this combat institute was actually equipped with a formation grandmaster... Such individuals were sect-guarding treasures that had to be kept in the deep rear! Sending a formation grandmaster to the front lines was sheer wastefulness! Yet Zhenhai Institute had done precisely that! It was precisely because of their bizarre personnel lineup that the Spring Rain had met with utter defeat! Feeling his strength wane, Zuo Chuan already recognized his fate. Looking at Zhenhai Institute's First Seat in the distance, who had still not shown his face even now, he finally understood why the Wuji Astral Palace had been willing to pay such a steep price for his head. Unfortunately... He was no longer able to complete the mission entrusted to him from above. No! He could not finish it, but at the very least... He had to let others finish it. With this thought, Zuo Chuan let out a shout mingled with unwillingness and resolute defiance: "The sect will avenge me!" He stoked his remaining true essence, holding his sword aloft to the heavens. A furious sword gleam soared into the sky, looking as though it would transform into a brilliance that pierced heaven and earth straight into the highest firmament. Carrying his resolute will, this flare of light could notify the Great Sun Sword Sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators of his current location, and could also serve as a warning to make them realize the threat Zhenhai Institute posed! However... As that sword gleam shot skyward, Yaoguang instantly contacted Murong Hui through the Virtual Spirit Realm. Murong Hui, who was currently locked in a battle of divine minds against the Great Sun Sword Sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators, stirred up an enormous commotion upon receiving Yaoguang's message, putting on an appearance of unleashing an ultimate technique. Of course, Murong Hui provided the theatrics while Yaoguang delivered the actual strike. With the two joining forces, the Great Sun Sword Sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators were forced directly back, to the point where they could not clearly see the light flaring over the East Sea at all. Amidst the sword gleam... Tang Fenghua's life-bound flying sword tore Zuo Chuan's body to shreds like lightning. The other great sword cultivators also swiftly finished mopping up the remaining Great Sun Sword Sect cultivators aboard the Spring Rain sky-patrol warship. Before long, the great sword cultivators led by Wang Feng landed steadily upon the warship. Every face was beaming with joy, tinged with disbelief. "We... we won just like that?" Their Zhenhai Institute... Not only had they routed a sky-patrol warship in a direct confrontation and annihilated all the experts aboard, but they had also captured a sky-patrol warship outright?! And it was a second-generation sky-patrol warship, even more advanced than the one purchased from the Myriad Beasts Sect?! "A sky-patrol warship!" After touching down on the warship, Tang Fenghua could not contain the joy shining in his eyes. Capturing a sky-patrol warship—akin to a mobile mountain gate—was an achievement no less monumental than wiping out an entire sect! And their Zhenhai Institute had pulled it off on their own? Who would ever believe this?! "Zhenhai Institute, an institute that isn't even considered an elite combat institute, not only routed a sky-patrol warship, but captured it intact? This is downright absurd!" Some of the great sword cultivators could not resist shouting in excitement. "I know everyone has expended a tremendous amount of energy and is mentally exhausted, but please hold out a bit longer. I will guide you to quickly pilot this sky-patrol warship away!" Yaoguang's divine mind instantly sounded in everyone's minds. "Exhausted? Not at all! If we can fly this sky-patrol warship back, it'd be worth it even if I worked myself to death!" "That's right, First Seat! My spirits are high! Direct us however you like, we aren't tired!" "Piloting a sky-patrol warship! To think that I, Yue Zhanlong, would see this day! First Seat, please put us to work as you see fit!" One great sword cultivator after another chimed in. Although the true essence within their bodies had indeed been nearly depleted, there was no trace of the mental exhaustion Yaoguang had mentioned. Instead, every one of them was glowing with vigor, showing not the slightest hint of fatigue. "Good!" Yaoguang did not dally either. Acknowledging their spirits, he promptly ordered Tang Fenghua to activate the concealment formations aboard the sky-patrol warship itself. At the same time, he sent Wang Feng and the others to power up the warship. As for himself, he directly manifested an information black zone, erasing the warship entirely from the informational layer. Amidst rumbling roars, the sky-patrol warship restarted and set course for the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Shortly after the sky-patrol warship was captured and departed toward the Nine Cauldrons Sect, the Heavenly Palace cultivators of the Great Sun Sword Sect seemed to finally realize the gravity of the situation. They concentrated all their strength to break through the Nine Cauldrons Sect's interference over the area. To that end, they did not even hesitate to seek assistance from the Wuji Astral Palace. Yet by the time the Wuji Astral Palace's reinforcements arrived more than ten minutes later, the battle was not only long over, but the Spring Rain sky-patrol warship had vanished without a trace. It was as though... It had never existed at all.