Chapter 603: The Breath of the Heavenly Sovereign

"Drag friends down with you?"

When Yu Zhong heard the earlier part about how, regardless of reliability, they should as much as possible expand and develop the vassal family Golden Core cultivators who would defect, his face showed hesitation and reluctance.

These Nascent Soul ancestors,

truly don't treat Golden Core cultivators' lives as lives!

If Golden Core cultivators are willing to defect, naturally everyone is happy.

If they are unwilling, or even report upward, dying is just dying — the cultivators supporting the formation would be one fewer out of thin air, which is also a great thing; no matter what, it's a gain.

When he heard that the top three in merit would be rewarded with a General Heishi Nascent Soul cultivation method…

"Did Master Dinghai Zhenjun truly say this?!!"

Yu Zhong's voice suddenly rose, beyond his control, his pupils dilating sharply: "Fellow Daoist Wei, are you deceiving me? I've heard that Master Dinghai Zhenjun values his word like a thousand gold pieces, and detests most anyone who violates the rules he sets down."

If someone else had said these words, it would be one thing.

For example, the Zhengmo Alliance saying so-and-so did such-and-such, and would be granted a Nascent Soul opportunity, a Nascent Soul cultivation method, and vast quantities of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Some were tempted.

But the vast majority of cultivators merely showed outward respect while inwardly scoffing, not even glancing at it.

There was no other reason — in the long years of history, the Twenty-Eight Families of the Northern Plains had made such promises countless times; even the Yu Family itself had encountered one such case, let alone other families.

What was the final result?

Under all sorts of seemingly reasonable excuses, not only did the Nascent Soul opportunity and Nascent Soul cultivation method amount to nothing, they themselves were killed.

Because their strength among Golden Core cultivators was too great, they incurred the jealousy of the family cultivators.

But Tushan Master Dinghai Zhenjun is different!

His avatar, at the gate of Luoxu Sect, had fulfilled every promise made before everyone — whether it involved cultivation methods, fourth-tier spiritual medicines, or even the great treasure inheritances that the two great prodigies themselves yearned for, risking their very lives to obtain — all were granted, one by one.

Not a fraction more, not a fraction less.

Perfectly matching the promises once made.

As several hundred Golden Core cultivators safely returned, word of his deeds spread rapidly through their mouths to all directions; every surviving Golden Core cultivator had greatly increased their strength, becoming objects of envy among the surrounding fellow Daoists, further accelerating the spread of the tale.

By today, even Yu Zhong himself had learned of this through his own friend's mouth, his heart yearning for it.

"The ancestor did indeed say this."

Wei Wei Qingqing looked at the agitated appearance of this family old enemy before her, feeling uncomfortable inside, but still said.

The person who had just released the soul restriction on her was not someone one could casually fool.

Although she had some looks, they could never make the sword at his neck hesitate for half a moment.

"Master Dinghai Zhenjun truly is compassionate!"

"What a despicable, shameless wretch am I, to dare doubt Master Dinghai Zhenjun? This is my sin!!"

All hesitation vanished from Yu Zhong's heart; he said fervently: "I'll go at once to persuade my familiar friends, calling on them to overthrow this evil General Heishi."

"What matter is the mere life and death of a Golden Core?"

"Right, since Master Dinghai Zhenjun has fought his way here, where is that old thief Shen Ya? He must be heavily wounded and fleeing… No! That old thief must be dead — that's what I'll tell my friends."

Yu Zhong's divine sense scattered, he babbled nonsense, and without waiting for Wei Wei Qingqing's reply, severed the spiritual connection and went off to seek out Golden Core cultivators who might have intentions to defect.

"That damned old thing!"

The urgency in Wei Wei Qingqing's heart grew stronger; she left behind evidence of Yu Zhong's defection and hurried off to approach the next Golden Core cultivator.

One becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes…

Driven by the lure of a reliable Nascent Soul opportunity, the many vassal family Golden Core cultivators went nearly mad, spreading the word with extreme efficiency; in barely a few quarter-hours, it had reached almost everyone.

On the surface, all was unusually calm.

Every vassal Golden Core cultivator obediently followed the General Heishi main-line Golden Core cultivators' orders, channeling in magic power and divine sense, exceedingly respectful, with no shirking whatsoever.

Of course, whether the outside matched the inside, perhaps they were the same.

Without certainty, without fully weighing the times, or unless the external situation turned, the surface would be the truth from beginning to end.

……

Two days passed, and Jiang Ding opened his eyes, a flash of killing intent appearing and vanishing.

"It's ready."

Jiang Ding flickered once, drove his flying sword and once more plunged into the attack range of Master Tushan Xiancheng; without a word, a single straight sword split the sky and clouds, BOOM— it fell.

Boom!

The Black Feather Heaven-God Slays Myriad Spirits Grand Formation was struck until it rocked violently, vast swathes of spiritual light collapsing.

Within the city the earth shook and mountains swayed, stone-paved streets cracked, houses solidly reinforced and repaired by spells collapsed like tofu, and great numbers of cultivators fled in terror.

This sword was open and aboveboard.

Its power was several times greater than before!

"How could this be?"

Hei Hei Chengxiu, who was overseeing the formation and on constant guard, suffered backlash from the formation, suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and cried out in disbelief.

In his formation's perception, this sword was clearly the same as before, no different at all — yet it had caused enormous damage to the formation.

It instantly surpassed his understanding; he panicked and lost his composure.

"This was a strike at the formation's flaw!"

Long Long Xingshang beside him was also helping oversee the formation; he had traveled the realm as a merchant, was experienced and knowledgeable, and now his scalp went numb: "Just how strong has his formation Dao reached?"

"Although formations have flaws, and all things under heaven have flaws, nothing is absolutely perfect — they vanish in an instant, even a Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun cannot track them in real time!"

"How could it be so easy?!"

The surrounding Golden Core cultivators were greatly terrified.

Many of the Long Family's Golden Core cultivators even began to think of retreat — this was not their own family land, helping out was fine, but fighting to the death was too much to ask.

Keng!

The sky was split again by a slash of blue-gold sword light, tearing through the heavens.

The rolling black smoke enveloping the Black Feather Heavenly God's Mass Slaughter Array was cut down, and the Eternal Night Heavenly Domain was ripped open into a dead zone of spiritual void, several li in length and width.

No matter how the surrounding black smoke surged in, trying to seal the tear, it was useless.

This night sky canopy is the domain of the Black Feather Heavenly God's Mass Slaughter Array!

It is equivalent to the Dao of a Nascent Soul cultivator — the foundation upon which one controls and manipulates the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

Now that it is broken, the array's power is declining; even pouring in mountains and oceans of spirit stones cannot fully restore it — human effort cannot rival the power of heaven and earth.

"If we keep going like this, we'll all die!"

"Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

Hei Hei Chengxiu and the surrounding General Heishi bloodline Jin Dan cultivators exchanged a glance, then gritted their teeth and began burning their own essence and blood, greatly boosting their strength to strengthen their control over the array.

"Unseal!"

"Ancestral gift — the Canghai Tianjun's divine blood! Unseal!"

The General Heishi bloodline Jin Dan cultivators roared in unison, their faces twisted with ferocity.

Li!

Li li!

From the array patterns of the Chu Ling Xiancheng, a majestic black raven emerged, a drop of dark red blood appearing on its brow; it stretched its neck and shrieked, flapped its wings, and its legs elongated.

It stood upright, transforming into a monstrous fiend with a bird's head and human body, clad in glossy black scales and bearing twin wings.

The fiend's eyes were pitch black and blood-red, radiating a terrifying ferocious aura, fixed unblinkingly on the young man in blue robes nearby.

"Ants..."

He rubbed his hands together, and the entire Chu Ling Xiancheng trembled violently; countless waves of black-red crimson killing energy surged from every direction, coalescing in his grasp into a phoenix-winged golden mace radiating murderous aura.

"Destroy!"

The bird-headed fiend swung the Phoenix-Winged Gold Mace, flapped his wings, and with his bare body, shattered space itself — vanishing from sight.

(End of Chapter)