Chapter 411: Chapter 353: My Path Isn’t Lonely, Emerging to Test the Law
The sword, like a soaring rainbow!
Dazzling yet perilous.
The Immortal Sword bridged heaven and earth, akin to emerald peaks, like sturdy pines.
Yan Jiuge knew death was certain, yet left himself no escape.
Bearing forward without hesitation.
Guu Yuchan set aside his playful grin, his gaze suffused with Purple Qi, hair unraveling and dancing wildly with the wind.
Infinite lightning surged forth, his entire figure resembling the Thunder God descending to the mortal world.
"Leave now, all of you!"
As battle loomed, Guu Yuchan left these words for the crowd.
The Taoists wasted no time on sentimentality and swiftly obeyed the command to retreat.
Yunhai, watching the two approach, couldn’t help but reveal a mocking smile.
Two Core Formation cultivators?
Grossly overestimating themselves!
As this thought crossed his mind, Yunhai’s brow turned crimson, and his eyes widened to their fullest.
Boom!
The Evil Power Eye unleashed a surge of sinister energy.
Before the two could draw near, they were crushed by a malevolent force.
Plummeting to the ground, their spells vanished before even reaching their target.
Bang!
The impact left a crater where they landed.
Even though the crowd had anticipated this outcome, the realization that they couldn’t last a single encounter filled their hearts with a sense of despair.
Yan Jiuge, bloodied head to toe, hair disheveled, used his treasure sword as a crutch to prop himself up.
"Cough, cough, Guu Taoist, should you perhaps retreat?"
"Me?" Guu Yuchan laughed wryly, "Are you trying to sabotage my Dao Heart? Life and death—I see through them both."
"Very well. Today, I repay the Taoist Master’s kindness for supporting me."
Yan Jiuge drew his treasure sword, pointing it at the two figures in the near distance.
"Cowardly scum, one day you will descend and face me in person!"
Swish!
Yan Jiuge charged forward once more.
All Swords Return to the Sect!
Countless immortal swords shot toward the two adversaries.
Victory is reserved for the brave in paths where steel meets steel. When facing formidable enemies, how could one cultivate the Sword Dao without the courage to draw their blade?
The distance between them was short, yet in Yan Jiuge’s eyes, it stretched interminably.
Time slowed down, the world around him moving frame by frame.
Dust motes, buzzing insects, faint breezes, and palpable killing intent hung in the air.
Yan Jiuge finally saw Yunhai’s third eye at the center of his forehead, radiating terrifying energy.
It was an intangible Demonic Qi, invisible to ordinary mortal eyes.
As soon as Yan Jiuge collided with the Demonic Qi, he would be obliterated, reduced to ashes.
Yet still, he charged forward without hesitation.
A moment brushed between life and death.
Yan Jiuge seemed to touch the threshold.
The Seventh Realm Heavenly Sword.
At that moment, the pitch-black clouds suddenly split open, and a beam of golden light pierced the earth.
Yunhai’s onslaught faltered abruptly.
Startled, he raised his head to find an enormous golden sword looming above.
The Justice Three-foot Sword—banishing evil, protecting the imperial capital!
In this instant, Yan Jiuge ascended into the Seventh Realm Heavenly Sword, stepping into the Purple Mansion Stage.
"Roar!"
Guu Yuchan revealed a colossal Thunder and Lightning Dharma Body.
Towering a thousand feet, and lightning serpents danced madly around him.
Simultaneously, both broke through to the Purple Mansion Stage.
This was not a spur-of-the-moment epiphany, but the culmination of prolonged cultivation.
They had already been but one step away; this life-or-death battle merely quickened their breakthroughs.
Their attacks even pierced the Evil Power Eye’s domain.
Sword Qi and lightning flew past Tianhe and Yunhai, gliding by within three feet of their figures.
Though it dealt no harm, it was an undeniable form of insult.
"Worthless."
The Heavenly Master spat angrily.
Yunhai cast his gaze downward, shame coloring his expression.
Failing to kill the two, he had instead witnessed their breakthrough.
Tianhe snorted coldly.
Swoosh!
Day turned into night.
Beneath the pitch-black canopy loomed eight towering mountains.
The majestic peaks, under the oppressive shadows of the night, exuded an overwhelming sense of foreboding.
They resembled ancient beasts of colossal proportions.
Crash!
The eight peaks lit up with crimson flames.
Only then did the two realize these were no mountains—they were Ghost Kings, each one savage and formidable.
Thump, thump, thump!
The nearest mountain lifted itself from the ground.
Thump, thump, thump...
The earth quaked incessantly.
The mountain’s true form was revealed before them.
Standing five thousand feet tall, it sported a crocodile-like head, jagged teeth akin to bamboo stalks, and pitch-black iron armor melded into scales across its body.
Its massive frame made breathing an ordeal.
Guu Yuchan and Yan Jiuge stood on the ground, their Divine Skills retracted, their figures so inconsequential they were less than the Demon’s hairs.
It wasn’t that they had surrendered their fighting spirit.
It was the overwhelming suppression of their opponent, leaving them incapable of wielding spells.
The disparity in power was too vast.
The Ghost King’s suppression was overwhelming, compounded by Tianhe’s Taiyue Dao.
The Fish Head Ghost King.
With their deaths seemingly imminent, Tianhe’s gaze fell upon them, capturing their unyielding resolve.
Their fearless expressions triggered a strange discomfort in Tianhe’s heart.
"Why do you not fear?"
Tianhe sounded puzzled.
The two’s unwavering eyes unsettled Tianhe immensely.
Had they no concept of rank or superiority?
Why did they feel no terror?
Why?
"Because our Dao is never solitary!"
Guu Yuchan sneered faintly.
A person as self-absorbed as Tianhe could never understand. Facing their demise, his concerns lay only in unfulfilled ambitions, his power, and his position.
Guu Yuchan, a prodigy who could very well be a forefather in cultivation, logically would be pitied in death.
He felt a small pulse of primal fear toward death—it’d be foolish not to—but he harbored no regret, much like Yan Jiuge beside him.
Because they knew their Dao was never solitary; others would continue walking their path.
"Seeking death!"
Tianhe’s hatred boiled—a loathing not simply of their serene confidence and unwavering loyalty, but of their belonging to the opposing side.
In darkness, the sight of light sparks disgust.
The Fish Head Ghost King’s foot slammed down—a footprint spanning tens of miles, compressing the air to the point their skeletons cracked and began to shatter.
In the nick of time.
The pitch-black world split, cleaved by a radiant golden sword.
The void shimmered faintly with a rune for "sword," its brilliance tearing through the Eight Sceneries Divine Sword overhead, leaving the darkened sky riddled with holes.
"Roar!"
Four Divine Dragons spewed flames, frost, poisonous mist, and boulders.
Song Lin stood amidst the Sword Array, hurling himself recklessly toward Tianhe and Yunhai.
"You’ve arrived just in time!"
Yunhai manifested his Thousand Feet Dharma Form, the crimson eye at his brow firing radiant red light.
The light forged itself into a massive scarlet hand, pressing toward Song Lin.
Wherever the giant hand passed, divine swords and flames alike failed to breach its defense.
Boom!
The enormous hand struck against Song Lin’s Thousand Feet Dharma Body.
The hand, an extension of the Netherworld Demon King, wielded unrivaled malicious energy equal to hundreds of mountains crushing in unison.
Crack!
Song Lin’s dharma body shattered but did not immediately collapse; instead, he restored it, enduring the massive handprint by sheer force.
"Hmm?"
Yunhai felt stung—it was the second time he had been thwarted.
Applying additional mana, he intensified his grip.
Crack!
Song Lin’s physical body finally crumbled, yet the anticipated eruption of blood and soul’s annihilation did not occur.
"An avatar?"
Tianhe discerned the truth belatedly, shifting his attention toward the Fish Head Ghost King.
Sure enough, Song Lin appeared out of thin air, his Hundred-foot Dharma Body forcefully halting a Ghost King at the Primordial Spirit Stage.
Though his combat prowess nearly matched the Ghost King’s, it fell slightly short of the dexterity and finesse of a true Primordial Spirit cultivator.
The Fish Head Ghost King’s foot, however, froze mid-motion.
"It’s not over yet."
Song Lin’s form radiated golden light.
Crack!
The Fish Head Ghost King shrieked in agony as its right foot suddenly exploded, sending its massive frame tumbling backward.
"Such a powerful dharma body!"
Yunhai’s pupils contracted.
This was no Demon Art—it was raw strength and physical might that had blown the Ghost King away.
"Taoist Master!"
Song Lin addressed the two stunned cultivators, gesturing toward the other side. "You’ve endured enough; go regroup with our companions."
Guu Yuchan turned toward the right, where, unbeknownst to them, the carriage had reversed course.
Wu Yi, several Taoists, Spirit Talismans, Spirit Swords, and members of Cultivator Families were all present.
After deliberating, they had felt that abandoning their fellow Taoists to save themselves was against principle and had turned back to aid them.
Unbeknownst to them, Song Lin had arrived first.
Song Lin had moved swiftly but waited for Guu Yuchan and Yan Jiuge to complete their breakthroughs before intervening.
Song Lin’s eyes met Tianhe’s.
"Long time no see."
Song Lin’s casual words broke the silence.
"Such audacity, daring to come alone. Should I call you foolish or arrogant? Do you truly believe reaching the Transcendence Tribulation Stage makes you invincible?"
Many who achieve breakthroughs succumb to the delusion of being unrivaled and peerless.
Unfortunately, it remains just that—a delusion.
Tianhe wasted no words, his eyes transforming into pure golden hues.
Buzz!
The sound of the Great Dao resonated as countless intricate golden runes emerged in the void.
The golden runes coalesced into a colossal golden handprint.
The handprint transcended the concept of range—it arrived wherever Tianhe wished it to be, freed from notions of distance and spatial limitation.
This was his Taiyue Dao!
Tianhe was not one for verbosity. Once he identified an enemy, his actions came swift and merciless.
The golden handprint descended at an incomprehensible speed.
Song Lin grasped his Nine Elders Immortal Capital Seal, imbuing it with mana as twelve intricate Cloud Seals soared into the heavens.
The Cloud Seals rotated like galaxies, quickly forming the word "Transform."
Swish!
The 72 Transformations.
Seventy-two Song Lins wielding seventy-two Emperor Swords and sporting seventy-two Nine-Transformation Indestructible Bodies.
"Quite the numbers, but ultimately futile."
Yunhai’s thoughts brushed the notion aside.
The fearsome power of the Taiyue Dao lay in its absolute suppression.
Under this strength, killing those low in cultivation—a thousand Purple Mansion cultivators or a thousand mortals—was practically the same in difficulty.
Song Lin, a cultivator newly entering the Transcendence Tribulation Stage, might present slightly more resistance, akin to the challenge of killing a thousand mortals.
Boom!
The golden palm descended.
At that moment, five runes emerged from the Twelve Cloud Seals.
嵩 ("Song"), 泰 ("Tai"), 衡 ("Heng"), 恒 ("Huan"), 华 ("Hua").
The Five Mountains True Form Map began spinning.
The golden hand froze abruptly.
"What is this?"
Tianhe was struck with alarm—something had suppressed his Taiyue Dao.
In an instant, seventy-two Song Lins bypassed the palm, moving with undetectable speed toward him.
Song Lin had never intended to defend passively.
"Old Tianhe, here I come! Today, I shall test my Dao upon you!"
These words had been brimming within him for decades.