Chapter 486

The figure of the youth truly vanished above the lake, the scattered flying feathers dissolving into the wind as if they had been born of the wind from the very beginning.

Yet in the eyes of all, the bright white feathers flickered into existence and perished in an instant, and the battle on the lake suddenly became clear.

Where the Qingwei true transmission landed, "North Heng" Wu Zhao and three Seventh Life cultivators scattered at the fastest speed, but Xie Yunxing and the other two helm masters did not have such luck; before their eyes, there was only a blur, and they seemed to have instinctively parried with a "Ding!" sound, but the next instant, their throats split open almost simultaneously.

It was not an inconceivable sword technique, nor did it require slippery, elusive movement, but the moment this Daoist robe descended here, it proclaimed to everyone that he came from another world.

Everyone felt their hearts and lungs shrink as they missed their previous opponent, but Yan Feiqing did not pursue further in his next step, instead turning his head to look back.

Above the night sky, Qiu Tianyu was flying over holding a halberd, but the youth was nowhere to be seen.

Under the suppression of the 【Law of the Same World】, he would indeed be affected by such intent-swords, and his Mystic Qi could only spread out three zhang around him; he had no way to force the youth's position out.

But there was still an enemy on the lake right before his eyes.

Breaking the wind and piercing the rain, the broad-shouldered man dragged his great halberd and whistled over, as if that weapon weighed a thousand jun.

"Great Halberd" 【Army Breaker】

At this moment, Qiu Tianyu did not care in the slightest about the vanished youth, as if certain that he could not cause him harm; his lapels fluttered like a flag, and while still eight zhang away, he twisted his waist and swung his arm, the great halberd heavily slicing a semicircle.

Without a doubt, even if a row of iron cavalry were truly before him now, they could not stop such a halberd strike!

Yan Feiqing watched this figure, standing still and raising his sword, two colors—one bright and one dark—slowly emerging within his eyes.

Just like the sun and moon.

Qingwei cultivates the elixir sword internally and spiritual arts externally, and it forms its own system; various methods are not as clearly demarcated as in the Jianghu, but are nearly integrated into one. The thunder used in the previous few rounds was the mutual reinforcement of spiritual arts and the sword. That was already the manipulation of spiritual mystery, yet Yan Feiqing did not follow the system of the sorcerers.

Sword, True Qi, spiritual mystery, mind and spirit—the image of Daoist disciples in the Jianghu is always one of numerous methods, and Qingwei especially obtains the essence of this path; all sorts of methods are tied to a single trunk—which is their own body.

The five viscera are like the five elements, the eyes become the sun and moon; this is the "Small Heaven and Earth."

Bright is for offense, dark is for defense—but those eyes had not even had time to turn dark before Qiu Tianyu had blinked into within seven zhang!

Just at this moment, when all of Qiu Tianyu's attention was focused on Yan Feiqing, the white feathers once again manifested from the wind.

In an instant, they were at Qiu Tianyu's neck, the bright sword blade like dyed red jade, the True Mystery cut open as if it were soft rot; behind the long sword, the youth's immortal-like body condensed from the feathers.

The three zhang of Mystic Qi were swept past by him in an instant; this was a sword strike as fast as lightning, and the next instant, the man's head seemed about to leave his body.

But after all, he had reacted to the three zhang warning.

The solidified, thick True Mystery congealed at the side of his neck, and Seeing Pei Ye's sword edge stopped abruptly, as if sinking into mud.

He had indeed exhausted his full strength; he had never reached this place before, and now, relying on a pair of wings to force the sword blade against the neck of this Body-Molding expert, it was already a miracle.

Seeing Pei Ye was exhausted, but he did not move at all, his face showing only tight seriousness, because at the same time, a faint Taiji diagram had already emerged beneath his feet.

Even if ten thousand people here could not see through that immortal sword of drifting jade feathers, at least in the eyes of one person, it had never once confused him.

Before Seeing Pei Ye appeared from the wind, 【Wuji of Self and Other】 had already been waiting beneath his feet.

In an instant, Yin and Yang reversed, self and other shifted, and the miracle of the previous moment descended here once again—the sword pressed against Qiu Tianyu's neck was, in a flash, Yan Feiqing's sword.

A clean, slender hand, indifferent and ruthless eyes, and blazing pupils.

"Heaven and Earth bright and dark, guided by the sword," this is precisely the "Creation Body Sword Chapter." It was never dark for defense; from the very beginning, what he had prepared was bright for offense.

This throat-slitting sword strike was originally Yan Feiqing's main attack.

Seeing Pei Ye understood his intent and had already helped him reach that point.

Only half a chi of distance remained; Yan Feiqing's long sword was as bright as a mirror, all rain traces evaporated in an instant, and the protective True Mystery suddenly cracked, revealing a gap reaching straight to the skin, with hot, scalding blood pulsing beneath.

Yan Feiqing cut down with all his might; at this moment, no matter what blocked his path, he would slash it open with one sword—yet what awaited the sword blade was a "Zheng!" sound of striking iron.

There was no spraying blood, no broken muscle or bone; Qiu Tianyu's reaction was unbelievably fast, and what was even more unbelievable was that control over power.

【Army Breaker】—a halberd strike that anyone would see as impossible to block.

The veins on his thick upper arm were like snakes, and as the tendons and bones twisted, that heavy halberd momentum was suddenly stopped; the pitch-black halberd shaft was like a dragon emerging from water, clanging as it blocked Yan Feiqing's terrifying attack sword.

It did not move a single bit.

In an instant, the entire battle situation went quiet, and a cold terror suddenly spread across the lake.

On the south bank, countless people actually did not understand; they only saw Yan Feiqing attack and Qiu Tianyu defend, completing a brilliant exchange. Only Changsun heard her close friend beside her muttering hoarsely: "... Impossible."

She turned her head and saw Cui Zhaoye's face turn pale, her lips pressed together as she stared straight at the lake, her expression almost one of fear.

"... Zhaoye?"

There was no response.

Of course it was impossible.

It was impossible to have such composure, impossible to have such power, because the 【Law of the Same World】 suppressed his Mystic Qi within a forty-zhang radius; he had exhausted all his strength, and at most, he could only escape from this sword strike with heavy injuries!

Qiu Tianyu turned his cold eyes, and vast, majestic Mystic Qi surged from within fifty zhang, as if a monarch were returning to his throne. He raised his hand to grasp Yan Feiqing's sword blade and slashed down fiercely with the halberd; Yan Feiqing's eyes suddenly turned from bright to dark, he released the sword to form a seal, and a four-layered Taiji diagram instantly appeared before him, then suddenly shattered. Blood splashed into the air, and the Daoist in the green robe fell into the lake like a broken sack.

Qiu Tianyu threw the sword away; Yan Feiqing actually still had the strength to raise his hand to block, but it was of no avail, and his body was pierced through in mid-air.

The next instant, the great halberd turned, and Qiu Tianyu was about to crash into that blood-stained lake surface, but a white feather manifested in front of him just in time, condensing into the youth's body with wings on his back, the bright sword blade cutting straight for his throat with the rainwater.

However, before this feathered body could fully form, the sharp, cold, and heavy halberd blade had already pierced through his chest. With chest broken and bones fractured, the white feathers were stained with blood; under such a weapon, there were few heavy injuries—one complete heavy strike meant one life.

On the tip of the long halberd, this feathered immortal body withered into feathers, flying toward ten zhang away, and before withering, it condensed into the youth's figure, arms hanging low, sword hidden, soaked through by the cold rain. Weak and lonely.

【Law-Guard Order】

The Mystic Qi of this 【Taiping Partridge】 was recorded as 【Law-Guard】.

Therefore, those people behind the scenes were not worried about any decapitation mission; besides the fact that the Taiping Taiping Cao Bang itself was a behemoth, the three words "Qiu Tianyu" were themselves an insurmountable high mountain.

Qiu Tianyu did not want to expose it, if not for the fact that the situation had truly become necessary.

And since the trump card had already been revealed, he would try his best to exchange for enough chips.

Qiu Tianyu looked coldly at the youth in front of him; from the moment he appeared, he had abandoned Yan Feiqing and locked onto him entirely, the gradually intensifying killing intent so heavy it made one's heart tremble.

His speed erupted in an instant, more than twice as fast as before, the great halberd bringing up a sharp whistle in the air, and Qiu Tianyu swept straight over!

Before this halberd, even the drifting wind would be torn to shreds; there was no place to hide or maneuver on the lake surface, and death was so imminent that Seeing Pei Ye turned his head and twisted his body, plunging into the raging fire of the treasure ship amidst the exclamations of countless people!

The next instant, the fierce flames at the bow of the ship blocked Qiu Tianyu like a baring-fanged beast, yet Qiu Tianyu raised his arm, shattering the raging fire with a punch carrying violent Mystic Qi, and then he swept into the sea of fire without stopping; the youth's adaptability had not even been able to buy himself a single breath of time.

As soon as Qiu Tianyu stepped onto the ship, tongues of fire licked toward him surgingly.

On the beams, on the walls, on the floor, there was a sea of fire everywhere, the scorching air burning everything.

The accumulated flames were indeed more terrifying than imagined; an Eighth Life cultivator probably could not stay here for more than a moment.

But of course, Qiu Tianyu had long since passed that distant realm; now, he was perfectly holding his own power.

Surrounding himself with Mystic Qi to isolate the temperature, Qiu Tianyu lowered his cold eyes, and the youth's staggering figure was already pinpointed in his Mystic Qi vision. He stepped lightly, and the entire floor suddenly disintegrated; accompanied by flames and broken wood, Qiu Tianyu fell straight to the next level.

This was almost the deepest part of this treasure ship, and the layers of raging flames should have been his safe shelter, but now they were easily torn open like thin paper. At the end of the room, Seeing Pei Ye was leaning against a burning wooden beam, his right arm indeed unable to move; he used his sword to support himself on the ground with his left arm, panting lightly as he looked up at the man who had chased him.

Those young eyes were tired yet bright.

Qiu Tianyu gripped his halberd again and looked at the youth before him; he truly understood him better than anyone outside. Of course, some observers wondered why he had abandoned Yan Feiqing to chase this youth, but in fact, even ten Yan Feiqings would not make him change his choice.

"The Young Master said your life and corpse are more valuable than the Taiping Taiping Cao Bang," Qiu Tianyu said indifferently in a low voice.

He walked slowly toward Seeing Pei Ye.

In fact, this warrior's temperament was not the heroism people often spoke of, but rather the ruggedness and iron-blood honed from a life of sleeping in armor and eating on the battlefield—an attitude that nothing mattered outside of life and death. Seeing Pei Ye could see that he did not care much about the lives of those dragon heads and hall masters, and now he could hear that he did not care much about the Taiping Taiping Cao Bang either; even in this Divine Capital, there must be few things he cared about.

Seeing Pei Ye said wearily and hoarsely: "Don't you want to capture me alive?"

Qiu Tianyu laughed low, then indifferently withdrew his expression, and the vast Mystic Qi suddenly swept away the flames in the entire room: "I heard you killed an Audience-Gate in Shao Long; why not let me see your Heart Sword."

Seeing Pei Ye did not speak.

He looked indeed to be at the end of his rope.

This was not the battlefield forged by the West Court and the Zhao Map; the distance between this Body-Molding master and him was no more than four zhang, and a Heart Sword strike would not be faster than the opponent's halberd blade.

Qiu Tianyu walked step by step, appearing oppressive and cold in the scorching fire field.

On the south bank, the intense fighting finally alarmed the city guards; on the streets in the distance, the Jin Wuwei, with their orderly scales and armor, were rushing over.

And in the more distant South Office, which was not as prosperous and lively as the West Pool, in the solemn office in the dead of night, there were only a few lonely lamps still lit.

A noble carriage drove into the Imperial City.

It stopped in an unknown, extremely deep place, with no candlelight and seemingly no guards.

"Young Lord, we have arrived," the driver said in a low voice.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a woman wearing a thick cloak walked down quietly. Behind her, unusually, there were no ladies-in-waiting; she carried a small, exquisitely ancient lamp herself, stepped into the darkness, and then her figure disappeared downward, as if walking into the Nine Netherworlds.

In total darkness, without a single lamp or candle, Xu Chuo walked downward step by step; countless complex array patterns flashed and vanished from the light emitted by the small lamp, and as she descended the stairs, an indescribable pressure began to permeate the air.

Majestic, cold, and stern, as if piercing through the human heart; if an ordinary person were to be touched by even a trace, they would likely collapse to their knees.

Yet Xu Chuo only pressed her lips slightly and walked forward, looking down seriously at the stairs. After passing through who knows how many courtyards and walking for how long, she finally stopped her steps and stood quietly in a vast darkness.

A moment later, Xu Chuo raised the lamp lightly: "Hey."

No one answered; the depth here was unknown, and it was terrifyingly silent.

But Xu Chuo just stood quietly, until in the darkness before her, something slowly lit up. Bright yellow light illuminated the ground; they were two nearly circular shapes, the diameter likely a zhang or so, like night-luminescent pearls magnified who knows how many times.

Only they were so profound and terrifying, outlining layers upon layers of textures.

It was a pair of tiger eyes as large as a carriage.

Qiu Tianyu stepped step by step on the burning floor; the pressure of the Mystic Gate Body-Molding was enough to make the heavily injured youth unable to catch his breath, and death was close at hand.

But the youth still tried to sigh lightly, opened his mouth and said: "That's true, there's no need for that yet."

A tiger roar, as if resounding from the entire Divine Capital, rushed into the clouds.

The Law-Guard Order at Qiu Tianyu's waist suddenly shattered; his eyes widened, and a mouthful of blood was vomited out.

At this instant, he urgently wanted to exert himself to strike with the halberd, but he saw the youth before him looking at him quietly, slowly bringing his fingers together vertically before him, and saying softly:

"Can-Star Mystic Fire Spirit Venerable Position."