Chapter 491: Five Cities Above Bai Yujing (Can't finish writing it, posting first)

She's here.

She's come!

Across the vast waters, a continuous stream of sound rose from the conch shells, accompanied by heavy, urgent breathing.

Earlier, when the Red-Eyed Black Phoenix had been beaten to death, the wails and cries for help it let out had failed to stir even the slightest ripple beneath these waters.

Yet the instant that aged figure appeared.

It was as if the entire body of water had come to a boil.

The figures hidden within seemed never to have imagined that Su Hongxiu would truly come here in person.

And that she would come so quickly, and in such a weakened state.

She was like a madwoman; within that sword-heart of hers, there was not the slightest trace of an ordinary mortal's hesitation.

"Seventh Dragon's Grandson?"

The old turtle demon, whose cultivation rivaled Bai Yujing's, held the conch shell to transmit his message, yet suddenly found that even his fingertips were trembling.

Though he had once been Ke Laoqi's foremost general and had personally assembled the entire Turtle Army, the moment Wu Rongbao truly laid eyes on Su Hongxiu, his emotions still surged violently.

Between him and that woman still lay the surging waters.

Tension and excitement intertwined, and the old Wang Ba's aura began to climb layer by layer.

Wu Rongbao had never in his wildest dreams imagined that, given his birth and strength, he would actually have the chance to fight the Dao Child of the Heaven Sword Sect—let alone the chance to slay her with his own hands!

"Seal off the waters. Not a whisper of this is to leak out."

From the conch came Ke Laoqi's forcibly steadied voice, with a faint tremor barely perceptible within it.

Even for a Yu Nanhong Dragon's Grandson, the price of striking at a Dao Child was absolutely not something he could bear; but equally, the merit of slaying a Dao Child would be enough to let him stand out among all his brothers.

Having said this, Ke Laoqi soothed his emotions: "Uncle, I leave this matter entirely in your hands."

The moment his words fell, beside Wu Rongbao, the giant man with wings on his back gave a slight nod of his jaw, and the light in his eyes gradually grew fierce.

It was not uncommon for a Dragon's Grandson to bestow honorific titles upon his maternal relatives.

But in most cases, this only happened when the maternal clan was powerful enough to even influence his standing within the Long Gong.

The Seventh Dragon's Grandson's maternal clan, the Winged Silkworms, did not fall into that category.

Even with the Long Gong's rewards and support, they had only produced a single great demon whose cultivation rivaled Bai Yujing's.

But as the saying goes, a mother rises in status through her son.

If they could help the Seventh Dragon's Grandson climb another step, it would be worth it even if they gambled the entire Winged Silkworm clan.

"Move!"

At last, a thunderous shout from Ke Laoqi rang out through the conch.

In an instant, the clear waters instantly turned murky and foul, as if some massive creature were churning beneath; one after another, ferocious and terrifying enormous figures burst from the surface!

Splash! Splash! Splash!

They ignored the figure in ink-black robes in the air and swiftly encircled that patch of Emerald Cloud Reef.

Their killing-intent blazing eyes were all fixed upon that aged figure.

Ke Laoqi had once said that the moon has its waxing and waning.

Yet even when that white moon was at its dimmest, its most broken, he had still deployed every ounce of force he could muster.

Two great demons whose cultivation rivaled Bai Yujing's, and nine great generals at the twelfth layer of Killed Fanxu.

Their momentum surged mightily, their demonic aura overwhelming.

Coupled with the demons and monsters hidden beneath the boundless waters, tasked with sealing off all aura, even the clear heavens were suddenly plunged into Tianyan Siji.

By comparison.

Su Hongxiu, who could barely lift her arm, appeared utterly spent, her vitality so faint as to be nearly imperceptible.

She quietly swallowed the Samsara Sword Fruit.

Then she lifted her gaze slightly.

In an instant, the host of great demons all stiffened, instinctively wanting to retreat backward.

It was still that enormous worm, resembling a flood dragon, that beat its wings and shot a glance backward, snapping them back to their senses so they wouldn't break the encirclement.

"..."

Before the Dragon's Grandson's maternal uncle, the once-mighty Turtle Army was showing such cowardice, and Wu Rongbao inexplicably felt it was rather shameful.

Thinking of this, he snapped harshly: "You have all already revealed your true forms—today, if you don't kill this woman, do you have any other path to survival?! Even if she is the Heaven Sword Dao Child, in such a weakened state, could she possibly slaughter every last one of us?!"

Fully refining the Samsara Sword Fruit would take at least several years.

In Su Hongxiu's current state, she would probably struggle even to grip a sword hilt.

"Roar!"

Hearing this, the demons roared in unison, their baleful aura surging once more.

Facing this display of bolstering courage.

Su Hongxiu slowly withdrew her gaze; a treasure of heaven and earth could be refined slowly and carefully, but of course it could also be swallowed whole.

Given her understanding of the Samsara Sword Fruit, forcibly taking it for her own use was the easiest thing in the world—though the effect would be far worse, with less than one percent retained.

Still, it was barely enough.

A faint sheen appeared among her withered snow-white hair, as if a bowl of rice porridge had entered her stomach and pulled her back from the brink of death.

Su Hongxiu still looked the same aged figure, but it seemed as if a measure of strength had been added to her bones; she finally rose to her feet, swaying unsteadily as she walked toward the edge of the reef, as if a single gust of wind could blow her over.

"She can move?"

The demons who had just mustered their courage, the instant Su Hongxiu took a step, suddenly began thinking of retreat once more.

Instinctively retreating backward.

"Hold her down for me!" The Dragon's Grandson's uncle suddenly reared his massive body upright.

As his words fell, the demons hurriedly produced the Mysterious Mechanism Cords. With a tremor of their arms, the sharp spearheads gleaming with a cold, ghostly luster punched into Su Hongxiu's body with a series of wet thuds.

Not a single drop of blood seeped from the old man's withered skin, as if he were nothing more than a dried corpse, an empty husk.

A full nine great cords held him fast!

"..."

Shen Yi swept a glance over Cuiyun Reef and found that no one seemed to be paying him any attention.

He fell silent for an instant, then tried to take a step.

When it came to a clash involving Bai Yujing, Shen Yi didn't even have the ability to judge victory or defeat. The corpse of the Dark Phoenix and the demon soul were already in hand; if he could leave, it was better to leave first.

But the instant he stepped forward—

Wu Rongbao cast a sidelong glance, and the terrifying aura of Bai Yujing instantly enveloped that ink-black robe.

The moment they revealed themselves, it meant that apart from the aquatic demons, there could not possibly be a single survivor here.

It's just that compared to a powerful Void Return cultivator, Su Hongxiu was more important.

"Huff."

Shen Yi met its gaze and roughly understood what it meant.

It meant he wasn't allowed to leave.

Then forget it. He wouldn't leave.

He casually laid his palm over the formation disk at his waist, ready for any contingency.

Yan Xianqing, this Bai Yujing cultivator—if he could avoid inviting him, it was best not to.

After all, the other party had slain demons, but that didn't count toward one's lifespan. And to use the foundation of Nanyang Sect, taking on risk to solve trouble for Heaven Sword Sect—no matter how you thought about it, it was a bit foolish.

If Yan Xianqing were to be lost here, Heaven Sword Sect certainly wouldn't compensate him with another Bai Yujing cultivator.

Now he just had to see how much strength this Heaven Sword Sect Dao Child actually had.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one who wanted to know.

The flesh-winged silkworm fixed its stare on the aged figure below, then suddenly opened its bloody maw. A pitch-black water surge, thick as five men linking arms, shot forth like an arrow loosed from its string, enveloping the reef and blasting out with a thunderous crash!

That pitch-black water surge reeked with a foul stench, and wherever it passed, it dissolved all spiritual energy.

It was hard to imagine what would happen if it struck—would even the body be dissolved?

Restrained by the nine Mysterious Mechanism Cords, Su Hongxiu had nowhere to dodge, but she seemed to have no intention of dodging in the first place, just as when the spearhead had pierced her body earlier.

She seemed to intend to spend every ounce of her strength, carefully calculated, on killing.

Her tattered sleeves fluttered as Su Hongxiu raised her palm, five fingers grasping at the sky.

In an instant, a long rainbow emerged from between her brows, connecting to the clouds. This rainbow bridge was seven parts purple and three parts blue, like mist gathered together—truly ethereal and otherworldly.

Then the clouds parted and the sun appeared.

The thick Cuiyun clouds split apart, revealing the shadow of an incomparably majestic golden-platformed high city. At the plaque above its gate, two great characters in bold, iron-wrought strokes could just barely be made out.

Long Han.

Heaven's Bai Yujing, twelve towers and five cities.

This is the great city of Long Han.

Under the radiance of that golden-platformed high city, the water pillar blasting forth instantly shattered.

Then the vermilion-studded city gate opened slightly, tempting one to glimpse the true scene within. Yet the purple light spilling from that crack seemed capable of blinding every eye in existence.

How dare mortals peek into the immortal realm!

Overstepping bounds!

When the purple radiance faded, the great city of Long Han vanished once more into the clouds and mist.

The only change was that a longsword of mutton-fat white jade now rested in Su Hongxiu's palm. Calling it a sword was somewhat a stretch, for it had no edge at all; instead it appeared exceedingly smooth and gentle, merely a three-foot sword-shaped form.

"In this state, she can still open the gates of Long Han and draw forth a Dao weapon?"

The Dragon Grandson-Uncle clearly hadn't expected this. All of Nanhong knew that the cultivation method practiced by the Heaven Sword Sect Dao Child left one at their weakest during reincarnation—body like dead wood, soul on the verge of scattering.

This intelligence... was actually false?

"All together, now!"

It let out a wild howl, then spread its wings wide and sent its massive head smashing brutally toward that figure!

Demons actually don't have the concept of realms.

What is called "comparable to Bai Yujing" means that both the demon body and its divine abilities have risen to a terrifying level, proving itself through strength.

"Good..."

Wu Rongbao answered. Just then, it saw Su Hongxiu casually glance at it, and somehow its body inexplicably slowed by a step.

The next instant, that white jade longsword swept upward.

Su Hongxiu's palm seemed weak, looking as though she could barely grip the sword steady, but the dazzling white radiance genuinely and thoroughly covered the entire stretch of sea visible to the eye.

Everyone was plunged into blindness.

A wretched howl suddenly exploded by their ears.

"Roar—"

The rich, milky-white brilliance began to converge, until it condensed into a thin line, imprinted across the flesh-winged silkworm's chest and belly.

Blood plasma hissed and spurted out, evolving from a stream into a great river.

The thick hide and flesh began to peel back, and its entire body, long as a flood dragon, flipped over and crashed heavily into the sea.

As if enduring a pain rarely seen in this world.

It began to thrash madly in the water, churning this stretch of sea red.

"..."

Watching the other's wretched state, Wu Rongbao swallowed hard. The golden patterns it had just summoned were all drawn back to the surface of its body in an instant, shielding its entire form without a single gap.

Su Hongxiu was about to step forward and draw her sword to kill, but was firmly held back by nine Mysterious Mechanism Cords.

Clatter! Clatter!

The iron chains trembled wildly in the air.

She cast a cold glance over that group of demons and monsters, raised her eyes to the sky once more, and this time finally spoke: "Chimingcheng."

At the end of the purple-green long rainbow, the clouds and mist rolled open for the second time.

Behind the original Long Han Dacheng, the phantom of a second golden platform city appeared, its plaque bearing the name Chimingcheng.

"Open for me!"

Su Hongxiu's voice was hoarse; the great gate of Chimingcheng trembled slightly, revealing a barely perceptible crack, and purple light spilled out again, only to be blocked by that great gate, lingering and failing to descend.

Her originally dim complexion suddenly became rosy.

Yet it was not because her condition had improved.

Su Hongxiu clenched her teeth, staring at that city gate as if trying to push it open with her gaze.

Blood plasma suddenly overflowed between her teeth, flowing down the corners of her lips and gradually soaking her clothes.

The Bai Yu long sword trembled violently, signifying her exhaustion.

However, the vermilion gate of that city remained as steady as a rock, showing no change whatsoever.

"Hah."

Wu Rongbao suddenly sighed in relief, suppressing the fear in his heart.

It was rumored that when the Daozi of the Heavenly Sword Sect was at his peak, he could open the three Immortal Cities of Long Han, Chimingcheng, and Shanghuang in succession.

Indeed, he was still much weaker.

But from this scene, one could see that the opponent truly intended to exterminate all of them, the demons and monsters.

Otherwise, there would be no way to force open the second city.

Taking advantage of this time, the flesh-winged silkworm that had been severely injured by a single sword strike finally slowly crawled out from under the water; the terrifying gash in its abdomen seemed completely unable to heal, revealing the pulsating internal organs within.

"You are doomed..."

The flesh-winged silkworm stared viciously at that ancient figure.

It was unclear whether this statement was meant for Su Hongxiu or was a warning to Wu Rongbao beside her.

Just then, the chains filling the sky suddenly tightened.

That ancient figure suddenly darted upward, causing the nine demons, all at the Killed Fanxu twelfth layer, to stumble forward a few steps.

She held the Bai Yu sword, walked upon the air, and charged toward the flesh-winged silkworm!

But halfway through her charge, she was dragged into mid-air by the nine demons who had reacted; surging demonic power poured into the Mysterious Mechanism Cords, and combined with the material's already rare and precious nature, even if she stood still and let Su Hongxiu strike, it would drain her of her last bit of strength.

"Take your time, no rush."

Old Wang Ba reminded her with great patience; speaking thus, he pressed his palms together, and the dense golden patterns transformed into a great seal, which crashed down toward Su Hongxiu with a boom.

It looked as though it was about to land upon her.

Su Hongxiu suddenly dodged backward, narrowly avoiding this strike.

Wu Rongbao instinctively glared angrily at the nine demons.

But he instantly noticed something strange.

He saw that on the backs of the nine demons, each had an identical Mysterious Mechanism Cord added.

The nine chains were held in the palm of that tall figure.

As his black robe billowed, purple and golden light blazed forth; that youth had, by his own strength, dragged down all nine great demons!

Even though their thoughts and strength had all been focused on Su Hongxiu.

But regardless, these demons and monsters were all Turtle Army Generals, the elite among the elite.

This scene, seen with one's own eyes, appeared strangely terrifying.

"You fight this one; I cannot."

Shen Yi glanced casually at Wu Rongbao and reminded him lightly.

"..."

Su Hongxiu had long noticed the presence of that youth and knew that her younger sister had been saved by him, but the time had been too brief to speak further.

Moreover, since she had revealed herself, that youth had ceased his actions.

Su Hongxiu had no habit of forcing others to help, nor did she believe that a Killed Fanxu cultivator could play any role in a battle of such realms.

She did not expect the opponent to seize the right moment and achieve such tremendous effect.

"If I can return alive, I will truly support you as Shen Zongzhu."

Su Hongxiu's simple words, if heard by the other cultivators of the Seven Disciples of Yu Nanhong, would surely cause them to be greatly alarmed.

For the meaning of this statement was to make enemies of all remaining Bai Yu Jing cultivators, even including the elders and direct disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

These were words that even Wei Yuanzhou would not dare to utter.

However, Shen Yi seemed not to have heard, and while grappling with the nine demons, his gaze remained fixed entirely on that flesh-winged silkworm.

Su Hongxiu likewise withdrew her gaze, turned, and charged toward Wu Rongbao!

"You damn..."

Wu Rongbao glared at Shen Yi with resentment; there was clearly one about to die in the water, yet he insisted on drawing the attention of the Heavenly Sword Sect's Daozi onto himself; it was simply stupid and ignorant, incomprehensible!

But in this region of Yu Nanhong, apart from the giants at the Dao Integration realm.

No one could afford to be distracted when Su Hongxiu attacked.

Wu Rongbao decisively manipulated the golden patterns covering his body, focusing all his thoughts on the Bai Yu sword that was attacking.

Just then, a low whisper suddenly sounded in his ear: "Hey!"

Old Wang Ba trembled violently, nearly causing his spirit to collapse.

At a moment like this, someone had actually crept up behind it without a sound.

It couldn't see who was behind it.

Because that person had simply stomped a foot down on its head, pressing down hard, sending Wu Rongbao stumbling forward uncontrollably.

"..."

Until Bai Yu's sword sheared off half of old Wang Ba's shoulder, even Su Hongxiu hadn't expected things to progress so easily.

The suddenly appearing Shi Gui, using its father as a springboard, leapt high into the air and charged toward that flesh-winged silkworm.

When Wu Jun reached the highest point, the aura belonging to Bai Yujing likewise swept wildly through the surroundings!

"Mm?"

Wu Rongbao and Su Hongxiu both turned their gazes over.

A new Bai Yujing cultivator, in a situation like this, could completely turn the tide of battle!

However, after clearly seeing the appearance of that figure.

Both of them froze for an instant.

Wu Rongbao stopped his cries of pain, clutching his shoulder that was gushing blood, and stared dumbly at his own turtle son.

The good news was that the other party had inexplicably become a Bai Yujing great demon on the same realm as himself... the bad news was, damn it, this beast was coming for him!

"Shi Gui?"

Su Hongxiu raised her brows slightly, a rare ripple stirring in her heart. Even with her breadth of experience, it was hard to imagine that the art of crafting puppets could be so overwhelmingly powerful.

Bai Yujing was a genuine top-tier powerhouse in Yu Nanhong.

Yet now they were telling her that even a dead object could possess the same strength. Even if it had only just glimpsed the threshold of Bai Yujing, it was still utterly shocking.

A dead object meant it would not perish, and could be passed down through generations. If the heavenly materials and earthly treasures needed for its manufacture could be cultivated, one could even mass-produce such spirit puppets.

Nanyang Sect was still hiding such methods?!

She finally understood the meaning of Shen Yi's earlier words.

The meaning of "can't beat Wu Rongbao" was that he truly possessed the ability to deal with this flesh-winged silkworm. The opponent's greatest trump card was never any Dao Palace or spirit art, but the ability to craft puppets!

"Now, I really am going to kill your whole family."

Su Hongxiu withdrew her gaze, stared quietly at Wu Rongbao before her, and then her sword fell like a sudden downpour!

At the same time.

Wu Jun had also pounced onto the flesh-winged silkworm's body. Having received such a generous reward from his master, he had finally risen to a realm he could never have imagined before.

This was his first battle—he must not fail his master's expectations!

It fiercely raised both palms. Bolstered by its dense bloodline, its golden patterns were even denser than its father's, and now they all gathered within its palms as it slammed them viciously into the flesh-winged silkworm's body, wrapping it up entirely.

The golden lines drew together, as if intending to squeeze this enormous worm straight into a chunk of meat!

"Lift!"

Wu Jun dug both palms into the worm's body and, as if hoisting a mountain, raised it horizontally into the sky.

The situation changed abruptly!

The nine great demons finally broke free from the Xuanji Cord's restraints and turned their furious gazes toward that figure in ink-black robes.

The greatest flaw of spirit puppets was that they required a cultivator to control them.

As long as they slew this wretch, today's matter could still be turned around.

"..."

Shen Yi retracted the Xuanji Cord and unhurriedly took out the Dragon Spear.

He calmly swept his gaze around, watching nine demons of different forms yet equally ferocious and savage surround him all at once.

Shen Yi raised the tip of his brow.

So it's a numbers game.

As purple qi once again cloaked his body.

Suddenly, the azure heavens turned desolate.

One after another, ink-robed figures holding spears suddenly appeared behind the nine demons—nine... ninety... nine hundred...

Until the demons' field of vision was entirely filled by those purple-gold eyes gazing down from above.

They slowly raised their spear tips, a savage curve forming at the corners of their lips.

On that Bai Xi handsome face, a rare and barely perceptible arrogance showed, as he said lightly: "Come on?"

Killing a whole family—it's been so long since I've done that.

I'm really... getting itchy.

(End of chapter)