Chapter 624: Has He Always Been Here?

Beihong, the dwelling of immortals.

Inside the quiet hall, a figure shrouded in pure energy sat cross-legged, eyes tightly shut, feeling that vast merit gradually pouring into his body; a smile appeared on his lips.

An unintentional act back then had caused Hongze some turmoil for a while, yet it gathered so much merit.

Even with poor luck and no suitable post, this merit would be enough to exchange for an immortal register of the seventh rank.

Why hadn't he thought of this before?

Tsk, even remote and desolate places have their benefits.

He only hoped those fools would handle things well and create an even greater slaughter calamity; if this merit wasn't enough for Shi to return to the Heavenly Court, then starting over again would at least give him hope.

Of course, succeeding on the first try would be best; such methods could be saved for later use.

He only hoped the gourd he sent up to heaven would play some role.

Thinking of this, Lingyun Shiren slowly opened his eyes, looked at the Golden Body dharma image before him, shook his head, and sighed slightly: "You..."

The words had barely left his mouth when his expression changed slightly; he suddenly turned his head to look outside.

"Roar—"

In the immortal's pupils, that sky-obscuring Bai Xi instantly awoke; its massive hooves, spanning the Four Hong, fiercely stomped down. In a place invisible to the masses, the spiritual qi of the Four Hong heavens and earth transformed into a colossal wave of energy that rolled and swept outward.

On the face of this lifeless object, rare fury appeared.

Beneath its hooves, the immortal power of the Four Hong was tightly locked, unable to be mobilized even a fraction.

"Seeking death!"

The smile on Lingyun Shiren's face quickly faded, and malice surged in his eyes.

What evil spirits and demons had come from where, this thing that knew not death, daring to lay hands on the spiritual qi of heaven and earth controlled by the Heavenly Court's official seal?

Did they still have the Heavenly Court in their eyes? Did they still have the Three Sects? Did they still have the majestic power of heaven?

He suddenly waved his sleeve and thrust his palm; a small, exquisite jade seal floated in his palm, taking the form of a majestic Bai Xi, mirroring the huge Bai Xi phantom in the sky.

The jade seal felt warm; Lingyun Shiren slowly clenched it tightly.

At the same time, all the immortal power of the Four Hong was brought under his control. Feeling that familiar, powerful strength surge through his entire body, this Hongze Daxian narrowed his eyes, only then feeling relieved.

He indeed disliked the feeling of being supervised; thus, when he descended, he deliberately drove away several subordinates, took their immortal salaries to win hearts, and enjoyed the taste of being praised by ten thousand people.

After all, they were just a few mortal mud-legs without background, not disciples of the Three Sects, and unrelated to the imperial court; they thought that by cultivating to the Dao realm and enduring until a vacancy arose in the Heavenly Court, their future would be bright.

They probably still thought up to now that they had been sent back to the mortal world because they didn't understand the rules and had violated some heavenly law.

"Hah, the Dao realm, what use is it?" Lingyun Shiren put away the jade seal, sneered, and his voice held a hint of bitterness.

"So... you did this to Li Xuanqing... to Zi Yang..." The Zhengyu Golden Body trembled all over; with all its strength, it barely lifted its head, its voice like a mosquito's hum, yet it still emitted a low laugh.

Rustle!

Hongze Daxian suddenly raised his palm; formless force instantly choked the Golden Body's neck.

He looked over coldly: "My parents were disciples of the Sanxian Sect; they died governing chaos for the Heavenly Court. Their colleagues are everywhere; all are my closest uncles and elders, treating me like their own son. What do you common mortals have that makes you worthy to mock me?"

"Enough."

Lingyun Shiren calmly released his hand and said contemptuously: "You don't even understand what the Sanxian Sect is; I'm too lazy to waste words with you."

"Of course I understand..."

The Zhengyu Golden Body slowly stopped smiling. Lady Qinghua had also learned of many deeds from her master and knew exactly what this immortal had just done, why he loved so much to wipe out entire families, and why he specifically left survivors to suffer for a lifetime.

"What do you understand?" Lingyun Shiren looked over with interest.

Immediately, he saw this Golden Body casually spit and laugh: "I understand you are an... orphan. Your mother is dead."

Slap—

The immortal suddenly waved his sleeve, forming a palm from pure energy, and struck the Golden Body's face hard!

His breathing became rapid, and ferocity surged in his eyes.

Even the flowing-cloud Bai Shan on his body trembled slightly.

The Golden Body dharma image took a palm strike; nearly half its face shattered away, but on the remaining half, a mocking smile remained, unmasked.

"Keep laughing. Wait until I deal with that evil demon... you wait."

Lingyun Shiren bared his white teeth, returned the smile in kind, and nodded lightly several times: "You wait for me to return."

"Very well."

What surprised this Hongze Daxian was that the Golden Body, previously tortured to the point of near collapse, was unusually tough today.

The other party still wore that damn smile; the broken, grotesque face made the smile itself seem far more terrifying, and the voice was as light as a whisper: "I wait for you to return."

The hall became quiet again.

Lady Qinghua watched Lingyun Shiren walk out of the hall; in her numb pupils, a glimmer of light gradually appeared.

Her master had said: seize the day.

Xihong.

Countless figures began to gather from all directions.

They wore different garments, their expressions despondent; clearly all were cultivators possessing a realm, yet they looked like a group of refugees, utterly lacking spirit.

But without exception, each tightly clutched their most prized treasure in their palm and formed the hand seals they were best at.

Among them, the one with the highest realm even included cultivators of the Heaven realm.

Ye Jiu stood among them; following behind him were not only the remaining five brothers and sisters but also most of the cultivators from the Nanhongqi Sect.

Anyone with Soul Transformation or Void Return cultivation who could pilot a treasure ship, even a disciple who had just entered the inner sect, was led by numerous elders and Dao sons, rushing day and night from the borderlands.

"Huff."

Su Hongxiu hovered before the treasure ship. She had once particularly wanted to leave Nanhong to participate in the contest of geniuses across the entire Hongze.

But she never expected that her first participation would be in such a terrifying scene.

She had never seen so many powerful cultivators, among whom were even young ones her own age, utterly unmatched by her.

Before these people, Nanhongqi Sect had absolutely no advantage.

But at this moment, even a lowly cultivator with only Soul Transformation realm cultivation did not draw a single mocking glance; instead, the very fact that someone so lowly had come with a sword inspired respect.

"I'm nervous."

Jiang Qiulan, though exceptionally beautiful, was utterly insignificant amid such a vast crowd—easily overlooked if one wasn't paying attention.

"Because you didn't see him?" Nie Jun spun a sword flourish.

One who left the sect with a death wish would not grow nervous under such circumstances.

They didn't even understand what had happened—only that if they didn't draw their swords now, they would never get another chance to draw them; even if they could only tear a corner of some Northern Hong cultivator's robe, it would at least slightly increase the chance of that opponent's demise.

Jiang Qiulan remained silent. She knew her doomsday was near, yet she truly wished to see him one last time.

The majestic mountain range towering within her heart suddenly vanished; the void it left behind was impossible to fill with anything else.

She could wait forever, but it seemed she had no time left now.

Of course, she had already been extraordinarily fortunate—after all, she had a junior sister who cherished him just as deeply, yet hadn't even been granted the chance to leave the treasure land and see who had killed her.

That's right… even amid this terrifying, horrifying array.

They still felt they were about to die.

Rather than stay within the treasure land and be slaughtered along with their entire clan, they chose a more active, yet utterly useless, way to die.

All because above this ocean of cultivators.

Stood numerous great demons, countless Northern Hong cultivators rode clouds, and the Ten Thousand Li River and Mountain Map illuminated the land like a radiant temple, while within those mountains and seas, a colossal black dragon rolled endlessly!

Compared to the masses below, their numbers were few, yet each radiated overwhelming power, like celestial soldiers and generals, gazing down upon this mortal realm with cold indifference.

They waited only for Qi Tianchuan's command to turn this place into a hell.

Boom—

A thunderous roar, like rolling thunder, deafened all—this was the black dragon's breath.

A wooden puppet looked up, stunned, at the sky.

His beloved master was dead; the Eastern Long Wang who cared for him was dead—both slain by the same hand.

Yet he remained unchanged from ten thousand years ago, even worse off now.

How could such a one as himself have the right to leave Nanhong and stand here again?

Yet after much hesitation, Li Xuanqing still came.

Perhaps someone had once promised him he would see the world beyond once more.

Of course, he would not place all his hope on Shen Yi—after all, Li Xuanqing knew Shen Yi already bore too much.

Yet that promise stirred his long-dormant thoughts.

Just one more glance—what need for cultivation? Worst comes to worst, one dies—and perhaps even escapes inner torment in the process.

"It seems very hard to win."

Qi Yansheng suddenly let out a bitter laugh; he instinctively compared the strength of both sides, and the conclusion was deeply sobering.

No chance of victory.

This was why every cultivator present wore faces of grim despair.

It was less a fight for survival than a march to death.

Above the horizon, Qi Tianchuan sat majestically upon the central throne, his cold gaze sweeping over the masses below.

If they were broken apart one by one, Northern Hong's losses could be minimized.

Unfortunately, a group of demons had disrupted things, forcing them to unite—what he hadn't expected was that even those Nanhong barbarians had arrived, let alone cultivators from the other two Hongs.

Today, heavy losses seem inevitable.

Thinking of this, he glanced sidelong at the old turtle—the minister who had served the Northern Long Wang for hundreds of thousands of years.

"It's clean enough," the old turtle replied softly.

Now that they had gathered, they realized Northern Long Gong's losses were already catastrophic—so severe they could hardly account for them.

Fortunately, today's alliance of the three Hongs will force other powers—including Liangdaohuang Sect—to bleed as well, preventing Northern Long Gong's status from being undermined. That's a good thing.

Yet for some reason, it always felt as if a pair of greedy eyes were fixed upon its back, sending a chill down its spine—this unease made the old turtle urge: "Act now."

Hearing this, Qi Tianchuan suddenly raised his hand: "Kill!"

A single word pierced heaven and earth like thunder, turning the faces of the cultivators below pale.

Facing the chaotic, surging aura above.

Their already crumbling spirits grew even more unstable—they desperately needed someone to lead and rally their morale.

"… "

Ye Jiu slowly drew his Flowing Light longsword, his robes fluttering.

Even a rusted sword, when necessary, can become a blade that charges forward without retreat.

He took a step forward—then suddenly halted.

Still no sight of that figure. Ji Jingxi's spirit wavered; she was about to follow, then turned to her senior brother in confusion: "Hm?"

"It seems I don't need to lead after all."

Ye Jiu gripped his longsword tightly, eyes half-lidded, gazing upward.

The next instant, nearly everyone saw a figure quietly appear in the sky.

One… ten… dozens!

More than fifty colossal, sky-obscuring forms hung silently above the cultivators of the three Hongs.

Their appearance plunged the entire waterscape into darkness, as if blotting out sun and moon.

In this moment, the five figures ahead suddenly emerged, drawing every eye.

A resplendent dark-gold ceremonial robe billowed, like long clouds at the edge of the sky.

The towering figure wore an aged dragon head atop its crown, as though cast in brilliant gilded gold; its eyes seemed to have become the sun and moon, becoming one of the few lights within this dim grey firmament.

The petite one and the voluptuous one stood on either side, both of striking beauty, lovely in entirely different ways.

Long Yuetian stood at the center, his expression like an ancient well without a ripple.

At the very last was the largest and roundest of them, its face full of viciousness as it greedily stared at the old turtle beside Qi Tianchuan.

But the instant those uniformly matching dark-gold robes appeared.

Nearly everyone already knew their identities.

"This Sovereign once told the stinking bugs of West Hong, this stretch of land and water, my Wan Yao Dian claims it."

"Never did remind you lot, though."

"Then today, let me amend that slightly."

A deep, resonant dragon chant, like a great bell, rang in every ear.

They stared dumbly at the five figures in the sky; the next moment, they felt a terrifying aura nearly on the level of the Dao spreading out, shrouding heaven and earth, making all living beings tremble.

That golden ancient dragon looked down from above at Qi Tianchuan: "Now, Hongze belongs to my Wan Yao Dian—and of course, that includes all of you."

Before the words had fallen, a sky-obscuring golden dragon claw thundered down from the depths of the horizon.

Between those sharp claws, the ten-thousand-li Jiangshan diagram in the sky was instantly torn to shreds; several illusory figures seated within their Dao Palaces finally lost their composure, fleeing in panic one after another.

Boom!!

As the tremendous roar swept outward.

The dragon claw overturned the waters; its fingertips were coated in scarlet blood and the corpses of North Hong's living beings.

"……"

Qi Tianchuan sat dazed upon his throne, his hand still frozen in midair.

The old turtle yanked him up in one grab and bellowed in alarm: "Half-step Dao realm!"

Now that Lü Xiao and the Long Wang were both absent, a fierce demon of such a realm could nearly be called invincible!

"What's there to panic about!"

In the distance, an elder of the Liangdaohuang Sect shot into the air; the hand seals he had long prepared were instantly formed, and a towering stone stele of solid form, carrying boundless might, thundered down from the sky!

"We've been waiting for you for a long time."

The elder's deliberately calm expression finally turned vicious and furious.

They had waited so long, all the while restraining their emotions, and finally they had waited for these fiends who had slaughtered several of their Shen Zongzhu.

"Form the Greedy Wolf Star Diagram!"

The elder roared; the remaining Shen Zongzhu of the Liangdaohuang Sect immediately steadied themselves and began forming hand seals.

Starlight flickered in the sky, outlining an enormous peach blossom; the momentum contained within had truly reached the Dao realm!

Such a terrifying pressure made the cultivators below—including Ye Jiu and the others—all change color at once.

Yet besides them, the elder who had roared out the order also changed color.

"……"

The elder hung dumbly in the air, his lips trembling.

No matter how they formed their array, it couldn't be this fast, let alone this strong; this peach blossom… was not the Liangdaohuang Sect's.

Under everyone's stupefied gaze.

That peach blossom slowly rotated once, bathing the stone stele in its light.

Long Yuetian finally took a step forward; his right arm transformed into a ten-thousand-li giant hand, and he calmly grasped this ancestral stele. With a slight squeeze of his five fingers, as though uprooting a mountain, he slowly drew it toward his own side.

Another half-step Dao realm!

Five Hall Masters, five half-step Dao realms!

The instant this thought arose in their hearts, whether the beings of North Hong or the remaining cultivators of the three Hongs, all felt as though struck by lightning.

Add to that this star diagram, and the full fifty-plus great demons of Earth realm or Heaven realm.

This Wan Yao Dian, dormant within Hongze, had long possessed the strength to annihilate the North Long Gong or the Liangdaohuang Sect!

Yet several people in the field fell silent.

Ji Jingxi and Ye Jiu and the others exchanged glances slowly, each seeing the other's trembling pupils.

The Wan Yao Dian possessed the Greedy Wolf Star-Dou Immortal-Slaying Grand Array, and wielded it with such familiarity as to deploy it nearly instantly.

Such a scene made it easy for them to think of one person.

That familiar ink-black robe quietly surfaced in everyone's mind.

"He… has he always been here?"

This was a question easily answered, yet none of them dared to give an affirmative reply.

A mid-Heaven realm cultivator, with over fifty Dao-Combining under his command, including five half-step Dao realms—however one thought about it, it was simply too absurd.

(End of this chapter)