Arrival

A grand formation fit to serve as a sect-protecting array for a top sect! And the semi-immortal artifact, the Golden Book of the Grand Dao, carried right on Yaoguang's person?! This lineup... Wasn't this identical to when Dao Lord Penglai joined forces with the Heavenly Dao Sect's mountain-protecting grand formation to bury and slay Dao Lord Yuanxu? Worse yet, last time only Dao Lord Penglai had acted. This time... Not only would Dao Lord Penglai arrive in the shortest possible time, but Dao Lord Juntian and several Dao Lords friendly with him would follow close behind. *Not good!* The moment this thought crossed his mind, the Dao Lord made a split-second decision. *Retreat!* His figure seemed to merge into the void, intending to permeate out of this rank-fifteen formation and vanish from this expanse of space. However... The reason Yaoguang had chosen the Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation—a purely trapping formation—was precisely to hold Dao Lord Wujin for long enough. The instant he sensed the Dao Lord attempting to flee, the power of Yaoguang's grotto-heaven, which anchored the Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation, expanded to its utmost limits. Moreover, resonating with the Bahuang Mirror Dao artifact, it agitated the Grand Dao of the Void, throwing the void's principles in this region into complete turmoil. Dao Lord Wujin, who had been attempting to permeate out through the Grand Dao of the Void, held on for only a fleeting moment before being violently shaken out of that permeable, traversing state. "This formation..." Dao Lord Wujin instantly realized that his opponent had plotted this long ago. It was as if... Yaoguang had made all these preparations well in advance just to wait for him. Inevitably, Dao Lord Penglai, acclaimed as the foremost expert of Beihai, had to be rushing here at top speed. Under these circumstances, Wujin had no choice other than unleashing a thunderous assault to shatter this sect-protecting grand formation and strike down Yaoguang, who presided over it. "Venerable Golden Book! Yaoguang! You are courting death!" With a low roar, Dao Lord Wujin, merged with the Grand Dao, abruptly raised his arms. Visible void power condensed above his head, transforming into a supreme divine sword soaring toward the clouds, capable of effortlessly slicing through the sun, moon, and all creation. "Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate! One Sword Shatters Ten Thousand Realms!" *Swoosh!* Almost at the exact instant the Dao Lord condensed this overwhelmingly powerful sword of the void, Yaoguang's figure flickered. He appeared directly before the Dao Lord, the Swimming Dragon Sword weaving as it channeled void power, conjuring three successive Void Swords that slashed toward Wujin's body in relentless pursuit. The Void Sword was hailed as indestructible and all-severing—the mightiest Dao art in the path of the void for offensive strikes and breaking formations. Amplified by the Torrent of Time, three Void Swords struck in unison. Even with a high-grade Dao artifact protective armor adorning him, Dao Lord Wujin dared not take the blow head-on. The towering, giant sword of the void he had condensed to breach the heavens had to be redirected under his control, sweeping out to meet the three incoming Void Swords. Yet no sooner had he swept away the three Void Swords than two more came slashing down in immediate succession. Dao Lord Wujin's expression remained steady. The giant sword of the void swept out again. At that moment, however, the power of the Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation surged. The void rippled like water, creating an unprecedentedly immense drag, significantly impairing even that colossal sword of the void. By the time the giant sword finally shattered the two Void Swords Yaoguang had loosed, yet another two Void Swords came cutting down right behind them. *How is he this fast?!* Dao Lord Wujin sensed that something was amiss. As he swung his giant sword to intercept the next two Void Swords, he abruptly reached out and clenched hard toward Yaoguang's position. This was the Great Qiankun Hand, widely renowned within the path of the void. Enacted through the Grand Dao of the Void, space across hundreds of li rapidly collapsed, flowing and condensing into Dao Lord Wujin's palm like a current of water. However, because the space of the Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation had been drastically reinforced, Wujin's clench failed to gather the space into his palm immediately. Seizing the opportunity, Yaoguang broke away from that patch of space with a single Void Flicker, then retaliated by slashing down two more Void Swords. "You think you can escape?" Swinging the giant void sword, Dao Lord Wujin smashed the two Void Swords—which were not overwhelmingly strong yet impossible to ignore—and then repeated his maneuver, reaching out toward the void where Yaoguang stood. This time, however, as he reached for the space around Yaoguang, the power of the Void-Banning Pagoda emanated outward. The terrifying might manifested by this pinnacle Dao artifact quickly locked down the space holding Yaoguang. Even though Yaoguang immediately summoned the Heaven-Sealing Stele, he still could not completely counteract such power. Yet, just as his figure was about to fall entirely into Dao Lord Wujin's inescapable grasp, the power of the Two Realms Ruler surged forth in a counter-shock. Taking advantage of that opening, Yaoguang executed Void Flicker once more, pulling himself free. "Futile struggling!" Seeing that the Great Qiankun Hand could not subdue Yaoguang, Dao Lord Wujin promptly shifted tactics. Locking down the space around Yaoguang with the Void-Banning Pagoda, he thrust out a finger. Heaven-Splitting Sword Finger! Within the path of the void, this was an exceptionally adaptable Dao art, ideal for punching above its weight or striking swift fatal blows. Its sheer destructive output was modest—nowhere near the level of the Void Sword or Great Void Collapse Art—yet it excelled in near-instantaneous execution speed. When unleashed by a Dao Lord against a Void Shattering cultivator, whether an ordinary Void Shattering expert or the very first rank on the Dao Lord Candidate List, a direct hit meant certain death. Just like now: when Dao Lord Wujin pointed his finger, even Yaoguang was a fraction of a second too slow to react. The void around him was completely shattered by the power of the Heaven-Splitting Sword Finger. A violent spatial tempest carrying terrifying torsional force converged to grind Yaoguang's body to dust. Such power... Let alone a Void Shattering cultivator, even a defensive Dao artifact would be shredded to pieces in an instant by those chaotic void currents. Yet... When that horrific power swept across Yaoguang's body, it did nothing more than raise a faint ripple across his skin before washing harmlessly past. Yaoguang himself even took advantage of the spatial turbulence breaching the Void-Banning Pagoda's spatial lock to activate the Two Realms Ruler, darting free once more and instantly unleashing two more Void Swords without a moment's pause. This spectacle finally caused the Dao Lord's expression to change. *How can this be?!* His Dao art had clearly struck Yaoguang's body, yet the result... It seemed to have inflicted zero damage upon him! This defied all reason! "You possess a treasure capable of nullifying damage... No, absorbing damage at most!" Dao Lord Wujin reacted swiftly. Brandishing the giant void sword in his hand, he shattered the two incoming Void Swords once more, while simultaneously deploying the Void-Banning Pagoda and thrusting the Heaven-Splitting Sword Finger toward Yaoguang again. However, now fully prepared, Yaoguang refused to remain in place. The moment he loosed two Void Swords, he immediately relocated with a Void Flicker. Under these conditions, even with the Void-Banning Pagoda in hand, Dao Lord Wujin found it exceedingly difficult to pin Yaoguang down. On the rare occasion Wujin managed to snare him, Yaoguang would unleash the powers of the Two Realms Ruler and Heaven-Sealing Stele with maximal speed. With the Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation restricting both the Void-Banning Pagoda and the Dao Lord's mastery over the Grand Dao of the Void, Wujin found it remarkably tough to keep him immobilized. Whenever Yaoguang was trapped and took a Heaven-Splitting Sword Finger head-on, he acted entirely unfazed. Instead, he would seize the moment when the finger shattered space to slip away. Whenever Dao Lord Wujin attempted to break off the engagement and escape, he was met point-blank with Yaoguang's Void Swords. Driven by the stacked projections of three Grand Daos of the Void, the sharpness of these Void Swords was so ferocious that not even Dao Lord Wujin dared rely on his physical body to withstand them. He was repeatedly forced to divert strikes powerful enough to cleave the Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation just to shatter the Void Swords. "This..." "The sect master is actually withstanding Dao Lord Wujin's onslaught?!" This sight left Supreme Elders Zhen Xuanyuan and Gu Li utterly bewildered. Unlike the previous confrontation at the Heavenly Dao Sect headquarters, this was outside the sect's mountain gates. Under such circumstances, Yaoguang could actually endure a Dao Lord's attacks and even entangle him, making it impossible for him to break away?! Looking at the battle overall... Naturally, Dao Lord Wujin held the upper hand. Yet anyone could see that, despite having the upper hand, Wujin could neither shake off their sect master for the time being nor spare the effort to shatter this rank-fifteen formation. Perhaps if the battle were drawn out, the sect master would eventually slip up after prolonged defense and face defeat, and this rank-fifteen formation would quickly be torn apart once Wujin freed his hands. At the very least, with the deep reserves of a Dao Lord, grinding a Void Shattering cultivator to death was child's play. The problem, however, was... Both Dao Lord Penglai, who was undoubtedly hurrying over, and Dao Lord Juntian, who was about to reach this region, were stark reminders to Dao Lord Wujin: he had no time left. "So... could the sect master... actually hold out until Dao Lord Penglai arrives?" Gu Li's divine sense fluctuated with stiff incredulity. Zhen Xuanyuan said nothing. He stared intently at the rank-fifteen Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation. That this formation so coincidentally countered Dao Lord Wujin to perfection... It prompted an extraordinarily audacious conjecture in his mind! Could their sect master... Have deliberately baited a Dao Lord into attacking, using him as a sacrifice to temper his blade and lower the difficulty of his future mortal tribulation when attempting Dao Integration? If that were true... Watching the two silhouettes clashing furiously in the void, Zhen Xuanyuan could not help shivering. *That would be utterly insane.* ... As time slipped away without Dao Lord Wujin being able to bring down Yaoguang, his growing anxiety became palpable. "Yaoguang!" He barked in a low voice, "Open the formation and let me leave, and we can talk things out! Otherwise, I will unleash the trump cards I specifically prepared for the Dao Contention! No matter how fast Dao Lord Penglai travels, it will take him at least the time to drink a cup of tea to get here. If I reveal all my reserves, you will never survive that long!" "And how am I supposed to trust you? What if I open the formation and you go back on your word?" Yaoguang did not immediately reject him. "Would a Dao Lord stoop to deceiving a mere Void Shattering cultivator like you?" "Heh, what does Void Shattering matter? Aren't you, an esteemed Dao Lord, still trying your hardest to put a Void Shattering cultivator like me to death?" "You don't have many choices. Understand this: the moment you die, this formation shatters. When that happens, even if Penglai arrives, he won't be able to keep me here." "Dao Lord Penglai alone might not keep you, but what if we add Dao Lord Juntian and his group? He is returning to Beihai in the company of several Dao Lords." "Juntian is not adept at movement techniques either. As for the other Dao Lords traveling with him, they won't rashly offend an expert of equal standing just for your sake..." "That's not necessarily true. If you want me to open the formation and let you leave, that's fine—leave the Void-Banning Pagoda behind." "Impossible! I will never hand over the Void-Banning Pagoda." "Then you must at least show some sincerity." "My sincerity..." Dao Lord Wujin was about to speak, but then suddenly realized something. "No—you're stalling for time!" Terrifying killing intent flared in the Dao Lord's eyes. "To dare play tricks before me! At most, I'll simply miss this Dao Contention! Since you insist on courting death, I shall grant your wish! Today, even if Penglai himself arrives in person, he won't be able to save you—" "Is that so?" Just then, a cool, indifferent voice suddenly echoed. As Yaoguang cooperated by opening a breach in the Ten Hells Dragon-Imprisoning Formation, a slender, graceful figure strode through the air, appearing within the formation. "I would like to see if you truly have the ability."